Saturday 2 March 2024
First Day on the Somme
Thursday 18 May 2023
Western Front Way
Tuesday 28 February 2023
London Scots
Friday 17 February 2023
Friday Frolics...
Monday 14 November 2022
Remembrance Today
Come November 1918 opinions differed somewhat from the days of early excitement. The surviving men who volunteered then were not the same men in 1918. The world had changed, the war had been won, something people often forget, but at a great cost, both 'at the front,' and 'at home.'
The question "What to do with the bodies," caused much wringing of hands and cursing throughout the land. Some people, at least those with money, broke the law and brought back their own loved ones, their 'heroes,' rather than follow the final decision to bury men where they fell. Outrage abundant. Bodies were collected, I think those doing the job, many soldiers themselves or often Chinese labourers, were paid six shillings a d ay for the often gruesome work. Scattered bodies, small cemeteries, were collected together in large organised places near where they fell. These today, run by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, are peaceful well tended resting places revealing nothing of the conflict that caused their creation.
The return and burial in Westminster Cathedral of the 'Unknown Warrior' in 1920 was much heralded by many. Women especially believed, some through dreams and visions, that this was their husband, son, brother. Thousands lined the streets as he was paraded through the city.
Flanders Fields are at the right time ablaze with red poppies. During the 1920s the idea began in Canada to commemorate the war dead by the wearing of a red poppy each year. The idea carried on and now is controlled by the 'British Legion,' (In Scotland 'Poppy Scotland.') and is used to raise money to support their work with wounded servicemen. It remains highly popular, and while some refuse to wear them, others have designed white, blue or black, poppies for reasons of their own, the Poppy is worn by the majority of the population during the two weeks up to the Remembrance Day on November 11th.
Friday 11 November 2022
November 11th 2022
Sunday 2 October 2022
A Scottish Poem
Pilgrimage: Being the thoughts of an ex-soldier at Ypres, 8/8/28
Me, an’ Jean, an’ the bairn;
The wee lad spierin’ an’ starin’;
Daunderin’ quiet an’ douce-like doun
The Menin road into Ypres toun.
‘Did ye kill ony Germans here?’
Man, it’s sair what a laddie’ll spier.
An’ Jean whispers ‘Wheest!’ – an’ there comes
The band wi’ its trumpets an’ drums.
There’s a glower i’ the wee laddie’s ee.
Ay, he’s ettlin’ ti sojer like me.
An’ Jean whispers low in her pain:
‘Lord, Ye’ll no lat it happen again!’
Syne the Gate whaur the weary feet trod
Like a white kind o’ promise fae God.
An’ in silence we’re spierin’ an’ starin’
– Me, an’ Jean, an’ the bairn.
Me an’ Jean
Her wi’ a saft warm licht in her een,
Thankfu’ that I am come through,
But trimlin’ a wee at the mou’,
Prood o’ the medals I wear –
The same as the Prince stan’in’ there;
Her hand grippin’ hard in mine here
– Oh Jeannie! Oh Jeannie, my dear! –
An’ I ken a’ the things she wud say
An’ Geordie was fond o’ her tae.
We saw Geordie’s bivvy yestreen,
Me an’ Jean.
Me,
Lookin’ yont ower the years juist tae see
Yon War like the ploy of a loon;
But a queer kind o’ shiver rins doon
My back as the things dribble in
– A hallikit lauch i’ the din,
The sangs, an’ the mud, an’ the claes,
An’ my buits, an’ yon glint through the haze
O’ anither lad’s bayonet, an’ lichts
Makin’ day o’ the darkest o’ nichts,
An’ the drinkin’ our tea fae ae can.
– Oh Geordie! Oh Geordie, my man!
An’ – deil tak’ this dust i’ my ee.
Me!
J. B. Salmond
from The Old Stalker and Other Verses (Edinburgh: The Moray Press, 1936)
The poems were often written in an Arbroath dialect.
I found this on the excellent Scottish Poetry Library.
Saturday 6 August 2022
Hitler's First War
Monday 25 April 2022
ANZAC DAY 2022
Tuesday 25 May 2021
Remembrance or Obsession Plus Time Drifting Away
Sunday 25 April 2021
Sunday Sunshine
Today, 25th April, is ANZAC Day, when we commemorate the Australian and New Zealand forces in the Great War. For some this was the event that made both individual nations, seperate from the Mother Country. Their adventures during the conflict have not been forgotten.
Wednesday 21 April 2021
Wednesday Warbling
Thursday 2 November 2017
One Hundred Years Ago Today...
A hundred years ago today the 3rd Battle of Gaza began, amongst those who failed to return were three men from the local area, all members of the local Territorial Force serving in the 1/5th Battalion Essex Regiment.
On 23rd July 1915 some 20 officers and 649 'other Ranks' of the 1/5th Battalion Essex Territorial Force sailed on the S.S. 'Grampian' for Gallipoli in the 161st Brigade as part of the 54th (East Anglian) Division landing on Suvla Bay on the 10th of August 1915 to face their introduction to the Great War. Here the battalion fought through the heat of the summer into the snow of winter departing to Mudros on the 27th of November 1915. Six officers and one hundred men had remained in position throughout their time on the peninsula, twenty seven had died in action plus ten from disease and one hundred and thirty three had been wounded including the Commanding Officer who never returned to action.
From the cold of Gallipoli the battalion served in the warmth of Egypt, much of the time being bored while guarding the Suez Canal. By March 1917 however the battalion saw action at the first battle of Gaza where they attacked the 'Green Hill' successfully in spite of advancing over 4000 yards of open ground, heavy casualties resulted but all were recalled because of misunderstandings regarding the position elsewhere.
The 5th participated in successful action during the early morning of November 2nd 1917. At five minutes to three in the morning the 5th Battalion attacked Zowaid Trench and the Rafa Redout from their positions on the beach to the west of Gaza. Darkness, smoke from the guns, dust thrown up from the beach, desperate and deadly efficient Ottoman defending plus the general 'fog of war' caused confusion and the battle was not won for many hours. The cost was terrific as an entire Turkish Division had been brought in to defend the position leaving the battalion losing 2 officers and 73 other ranks killed and having 7 officers, including the replacement Colonel wounded for a second time and 172 other ranks wounded.
Among the dead lay Serjeant William George Ambrose who fell attacking Zowaid Trench. Also there were two more Braintree and Bocking men Private Arthur William Gosling and Private James Joseph Willis.
William George Ambrose was born in Braintree in1896 and by 1911 lived in Woodfield Road. His father worked at Crittalls and William found employment as an office boy, possibly a rather tedious job for an energetic young man. With his father also being a serjeant in the 1/5th Battalion Essex Territorial Regiment it is no surprise to see William enlisting at the Drill Hall in Victoria Street when he was fifteen years of age. His photograph shown here reveals him to be a man of action and it is no surprise that he was serjeant also by the time he was 18 in 1914. For many men the Territorial Force was the only way to get away from the daily routine, meet mates and have a bit of excitement. The Battalion was dedicated to 'Home defence' however when volunteers for 'overseas action' were called for many were keen to answer that call. Nineteen was the enlistment age and many who volunteered for overseas service were below that age, some well below! William George Ambrose was an experienced fighting man of 21 years of age when he died leading his men attacking Zowaid Trench at Gaza. His body was recovered and now lies in the well cared for Gaza War Cemetery.
Private Arthur William Gosling off similar age to Ambrose was the son of a milkman living in Stine Cottage, Panfield Lane. Arthur had been employed as a painter with Gobbold and Millbank before the war. He too had joined the regiment possibly full of excitement and sharing the patriotism of the crowd but he also fell during this battle and was said to have died of his wounds, unfortunately however his body was never recovered. The damage from artillery often making identification impossible. He is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.
Private James Joseph Willis was 19, he lived in Maltings Lane of Bradford Street and worked for Baileys the grocers in the High Street on the corner of Sandpit Road. James had left his job when 16 years of age and enlisted (by lying about his age probably) in the 5th Essex and was early in the war. He too fell somewhere during this third battle of Gaza and died of his wounds, his body also was never recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Jerusalem Memorial.