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As you sit there reading this exactly one hundred years ago today the boys of the 38th Welsh Division, many of your relatives amongst them, were making their way forward to the jumping-off point for the attack on Pilckem Ridge that went in at dawn on the 31st.
A blue pennant stone cromlech surmounted by a red dragon now marks the spot and commemorates the fallen but every war memorial in Glamorgan you pass by today carries the reaper's roll-call.
Before you go to bed tonight spare a thought for the boys who never came back...
An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 15:30 - Jul 31 with 1862 views
You see a lot of pictures like lohengrins second. All smiling off on a jolly exciting caper to give the hun a right good thrashing. Young men in their prime ,but very naive. So very sad.
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 20:46 - Jul 31 with 1754 views
The roll call over the speakers at Tyne Cott cemetery always makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
My great uncle fought in and around Arras but eventually ended up in Ypres or (Wipers) as he called it. He never liked it there whilst he said fighting in Arras and the Somme was better than working underground.
He had won the MM at Beaumont Hamel with Newfoundlanders, he would have won the MC according to his citation in dispatches but didn't because he wasn't an officer. Running around with a Lewis gun was his thing apparently so he must have been a strong bloke because he was only about 5'6".
His life was colouful to say the least and he was always the life and soul of a party right up to his death in the late 70's. Encouraged all of us boys to join the Army, much to the annoyance of my gran and mother.
Life is an adventure or nothing at all.
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 20:49 - Jul 31 with 1748 views
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 19:38 - Jul 30 by scruffyjack
150 of us are taking part in a charity bike ride to raise funds for SSAFA, the main armed forces charity. The event is called "Cycle the Somme" and we will be stopping to pay our respects at the Welsh regiment memorial at Mametz Wood and other battlefield sites. General f******g Haig replaced the commanding officer Major General Ivor Phillips for not trying hard enough to take Mametz, and the 14th Swansea battalion lost 400 either killed or wounded out of a force of 676 in one day in the next attack.
If this happened in our times General f******* Hague would be hanged for mass murder. He was responsible for sending thousands of soldiers to their deaths in the most cruellest of ways
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 14:40 - Jul 31 by Lohengrin
Strangely enough, mate, the 38th's OC at Passchendaele was General Blackader. That's not a joke either, and he seems to have been a capable and decent officer not at all like the stereotype portrayed in'Oh! what a lovely war.'
Killy if you're reading this it's the same man who put down the Easter Rising and had kind words to say about Pearse after the Court Martial.
Thanks Loh. Right - same guy as we discussed on a previous thread. ðŸ€ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡ª
My grandad lied about his age, volunteered, and went to fight with his mates. Luckily he came home. So many young lives lost. RIP.
Loh - why did the magnificent welsh dragon monument take so long to get put up...?
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 01:38 - Aug 1 by Kilkennyjack
Thanks Loh. Right - same guy as we discussed on a previous thread. ðŸ€ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡ª
My grandad lied about his age, volunteered, and went to fight with his mates. Luckily he came home. So many young lives lost. RIP.
Loh - why did the magnificent welsh dragon monument take so long to get put up...?
A retired Swansea Police Officer has taken a lot of the credit for the erection of the monument, he has visited the area for many years and some time ago went into a local cafe/bar and noticed that there was quite a bit of Welsh memorabilia on show regarding how many Welsh soldiers lost their lives there. He questioned why there wasn't a memorial for the Welsh soldiers and in 2010 he got together with the owner of the cafe/bar, they formed a fund raising group, raised in the region of £200k, the stones were transported from Pembrokeshire, the monument was designed,constructed and erected in 2015. The retired Police Officer received a British Empire Medal in the Queen's birthday honours list last year.
[Post edited 1 Aug 2017 14:02]
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 16:46 - Aug 1 with 1567 views
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 07:46 - Aug 1 by lifelong
A retired Swansea Police Officer has taken a lot of the credit for the erection of the monument, he has visited the area for many years and some time ago went into a local cafe/bar and noticed that there was quite a bit of Welsh memorabilia on show regarding how many Welsh soldiers lost their lives there. He questioned why there wasn't a memorial for the Welsh soldiers and in 2010 he got together with the owner of the cafe/bar, they formed a fund raising group, raised in the region of £200k, the stones were transported from Pembrokeshire, the monument was designed,constructed and erected in 2015. The retired Police Officer received a British Empire Medal in the Queen's birthday honours list last year.
[Post edited 1 Aug 2017 14:02]
I believe his name is Peter Carter Jones
Everyday above ground ... Is a good day! 😎
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 17:12 - Aug 1 with 1560 views
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 01:38 - Aug 1 by Kilkennyjack
Thanks Loh. Right - same guy as we discussed on a previous thread. ðŸ€ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡ª
My grandad lied about his age, volunteered, and went to fight with his mates. Luckily he came home. So many young lives lost. RIP.
Loh - why did the magnificent welsh dragon monument take so long to get put up...?
Further to Lifelong's reply it needed somebody motivated, capable and driven to come along and make it happen. The 38th Division obviously no longer exists, nor do the regiments it comprised. Memorials such as this fall outside of the remit of the CWGC, magnificent job though they do, so it falls upon 'us' to make things like this happen.
I've nothing but admiration for the team behind the Welsh Memorial Park in Flanders, they've done a tremendous job.
An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.
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Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 17:32 - Aug 1 with 1555 views
Exactly 100 years ago today...Passchendaele on 16:10 - Jul 31 by Lohengrin
Good work.
Take your pick at the bar come the new season.
I must confess In Parenthesis is still as yet unread on my shelf, though definitely on the list. Slight aside though, I'm about 1/3 or so into The New Unhappy Lords, quite the eye opening interpretation of recent history through the lens of monetary influence. His 1965 comment on the Schuman plan being one of breaking national identity was also interesting reading in 2017, given how the EU has developed since, and our apparent impending exit. Food for thought anyway.
If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face--forever.
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