Only 10 days into the new year & I'm fed up of the bickering about the 100th Anniversary of The Great War already. There was the Blackadder thing & the leaving out the ANZACs thing. Bit sick of it already & it's not even the anniversary of old Franz Ferdinand being shot until June. At this rate I'll be glad when it's 12th November 2018 & it's all over.
Owen, Can you give me a bit of background here in the colonies? Who is bickering and over what? Sorry I am not well read on the current events of the anniversary. On another note, I'm hoping to work with my brother, who owns a large WWI collection to do a nice coffee table book with fine images of the details of uniforms, helmets and gear. Hop it works out. oz
Have not heard anything about the bickering either. Would appreciate a bit of info as well. Cheers Geoff
Possibly a reference to vote buying politicians riding the bandwagon - One named Gove - amoeba to minister without using a ticket on the transport of evolution and he the minister for education! Along with Iain another minister the twain a halfwit do not make.Enough of politics I have trodden in enough already.
It's only 11 January and so far we've already had the Lions, the Donkeys, the left and the the right, Blackadder and the Kitchener £2 coin. I didn't think it could get any worse but now the latest one appears to be do we call it the Great War, the First World War or World War One? Feeling distinctly Centenary Fatigued.
Links below to give you an idea http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/10561430/Government-accused-of-social-engineering-over-WW1-plans.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534932/Now-Boris-No-10-join-forces-defend-Gove-Blackadder-Downing-Street-says-Education-Secretary-right-blame- http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/04/michael-gove-blackadder_n_4541086.html http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/04/labour-gove-first-world-war-comments http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25612369 link to the Gov site https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/first-world-war-centenary
and these from last year http://www.1914-1918.net/onthetrail/index.php/disquieting-news-from-fromelles/ http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/48917-world-war-i-centenary-paving-stones-to-honour-heroes/?hl=%2Bvictoria+%2Bcross
But will it end then?..I'm sure I remember Ed Blackadder saying it ended in 1917.. and my granddad (CEF) didn't get home until March 1919...and the memorials say 1914 -19..
Just think of all those remainded books coming up in the Works, Pound land and the rest , as to the bickiring ,i dought its got underway yet this latest spat will make the coming years look like the Phoney war , then wait untill the keynoard warriors on a certin other forum get over their latest dose of the vapours ! And i dont think it will be over by christmas?
Spent an hour reading the Telegraph contributions and thought I was on a different planet. Maybe I should not have asked. Cheers Geoff
At the risk of throwing fuel on the fire I cannot understand why the centenary is for the start and not the end of the war - or do we go through it all again then anyway? Brian
Hello Brian I believe the idea is to cover the 14-18 period as a whole and build the picture/history from start to end regards Clive
The mayor in our village has asked us to put on an exhibtion for the Great War ,we do one here for VE Day the bad guys shot 14 locals whilst retreating in September 1944 so we have a few WW2 vehicles ,WW2 kit on display its next to the bar which is open all day and its a great day ,so when he said can we do one for the Great War ,i said well ok when ? Oh March he says bar might be closed by August so this March 2014 Hesmond is hosting its Great War bash , whats the theme i ask ? War! he replies none of this forgivness stuff he says ,top man our mayor .
I guess different people in different locations would have vastly different perspectives on what should be remembered/commemorated - if your village in France was occupied from 1914 to 1918, say, then that whole period would be important. if you had relatives involved, then specific dates might be important,... for different communities then different battle periods, Mons, Loos, Somme etc... and there are, of course, any number of variants of focus and interest. I suppose, too, that the use of a centenary is a pretty arbitrary timing device - if there are indeed 1000 books being published, then this is clearly seen by many as a commercial opportunity.. The memories of the Second World War can also succumb to this treatment, but as so many men and women live from that era, then the first hand stories, events, anniversaries are still abundantly clear and the memories treasurable...we should review this in 2039 (or would it be 2037..or 2041)
It can be a bit odd with the French and remberance ,our village when the Germans were retreating had 14 locals lined up and shot and one old boy who shouted at a passing German lorry was shot out side our house , so every September a very moving remeberance cermonary is held at the excution site then the village memorial ,we all attend as do all the local veterans not many WW2 lads , but quite a few post war lads , mainly ex para and a couple of Legion lads as well as infantry ect , you tend to note the medals ,Indo China , Algiers ,and a fair bit for bravery , i said to my Mrs as we stood by the church flags lowerd ,do you find this odd rembering what the Germans did here in 1944,and all the old boys have gongs up for the likes of Algiers ect ? One comment made to me by the tourist office was when the British come the tour the cemetrys looking for relatives and exploring the battlefields ,when the French go to say La Target ,they go on a Sunday take the faimly and say Oh great view ,then go home!
