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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. 19:06 - Jun 30 with 1787 viewsLohengrin

A National two minutes silence is to be observed at 07:25 tomorrow morning in remembrance of the fallen of The Somme. If you're up and about take the time to reflect on what has been endured and the untold sacrifices made. When you pass a War Memorial in your town or village tomorrow pause a moment, spare a few seconds to read some of the names, let them be remembered.

100 years ago the Swansea Pals were on The Somme, they are there still.




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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 19:20 - Jun 30 with 1454 viewsmorningstar

Obviously i have up arrowed your post, and whilst the timing obviously holds some significance (I'm gathering that's when the first whistle went to go over the top).
I honestly fail to see how holding a minutes silence at 07.25 in the morning is a fitting way to remember these brave men.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 19:23 - Jun 30 with 1446 viewsLord_Bony

Can you believe it I rushed to the service at Cardiff Cathays park at 7am this morning only to realise when I got thereit was the wrong day..it s tomorrow..

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 20:13 - Jun 30 with 1396 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 19:20 - Jun 30 by morningstar

Obviously i have up arrowed your post, and whilst the timing obviously holds some significance (I'm gathering that's when the first whistle went to go over the top).
I honestly fail to see how holding a minutes silence at 07.25 in the morning is a fitting way to remember these brave men.


The silence is timed to mark Zero Hour, but 07:25 tomorrow morning sees the culmination of the All-night Vigils being held both at Westminster Abbey and at the Thiepval Memorial on The Somme.

EDIT: I should have mentioned that in addition there are All-night Vigils underway in Llandaff Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle and at The Somme Heritage Centre in Co. Down, all culminating in the two minute silence.
[Post edited 30 Jun 2016 21:04]

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 20:15 - Jun 30 with 1394 viewsdickythorpe

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 19:23 - Jun 30 by Lord_Bony

Can you believe it I rushed to the service at Cardiff Cathays park at 7am this morning only to realise when I got thereit was the wrong day..it s tomorrow..


You made the effort regardless, if there is a heaven you gave the heroes a chuckle.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 20:23 - Jun 30 with 1386 viewsLord_Bony

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 20:15 - Jun 30 by dickythorpe

You made the effort regardless, if there is a heaven you gave the heroes a chuckle.


Thats what you get for reading the ipad with one eye open at 6.30...

Needless to say I ll try again tomorrow...btw if anyones interested a lot of churches holding special services nationwide this evening.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 22:13 - Jun 30 with 1324 viewsTreforys_Jack

i find that picture so moving, if anyone has ever done any of the military cemeteries, they will know what a humbling experience it is to see row upon row of pristine, perfectly positioned headstones,. Each one, whatever the nationality had a devastating effect on their family, friends and community. RIP to all.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:26 - Jul 1 with 1227 viewsLohengrin

Were any of you watching the ceremony this morning at Thiepval? Midway through as Charles Dance was giving a reading of Sassoon's Aftermath it began to rain slowly and steadily...
"Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."

Then as the poem ended the microphones began to pick up the chorus of songbirds and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had began. It was as if Bellona herself had been looking down and wept at the memory of all she had witnessed on that chalk rise exactly a hundred years ago to the second.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I wasn't the only one to have felt the power of the moment. Shirley Williams was in floods of tears.

"Sometimes when I wake, in those moments before my head clears, I'm back there on that morning of July 1st. It's not some fanciful imagining, I'm there. There's a part of me trapped there among all the boys who don't age; I feel its shadow pass across me, hear its siren call across the years... one minute to go."

[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 18:11]

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:29 - Jul 1 with 1217 viewslondonlisa2001

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:26 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

Were any of you watching the ceremony this morning at Thiepval? Midway through as Charles Dance was giving a reading of Sassoon's Aftermath it began to rain slowly and steadily...
"Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."

Then as the poem ended the microphones began to pick up the chorus of songbirds and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had began. It was as if Bellona herself had been looking down and wept at the memory of all she had witnessed on that chalk rise exactly a hundred years ago to the second.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I wasn't the only one to have felt the power of the moment. Shirley Williams was in floods of tears.

"Sometimes when I wake, in those moments before my head clears, I'm back there on that morning of July 1st. It's not some fanciful imagining, I'm there. There's a part of me trapped there among all the boys who don't age; I feel its shadow pass across me, hear its siren call across the years... one minute to go."

[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 18:11]


I don't know whether you saw this Lohengrin, but there was a rather beautiful and moving tribute at Waterloo station this morning.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:39 - Jul 1 with 1206 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:29 - Jul 1 by londonlisa2001

I don't know whether you saw this Lohengrin, but there was a rather beautiful and moving tribute at Waterloo station this morning.


The walking ghosts? It was happening at stations across Britain that had been military transportation hubs in 1916 this morning. I'd have liked to have seen that. For commuters it must have been as if the curtain of time had been twitched aside.

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:48 - Jul 1 with 1187 viewslondonlisa2001

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:39 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

The walking ghosts? It was happening at stations across Britain that had been military transportation hubs in 1916 this morning. I'd have liked to have seen that. For commuters it must have been as if the curtain of time had been twitched aside.


Yes - friends that come in via Waterloo have been saying that people were in tears.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:48 - Jul 1 with 1186 viewsoh_tommy_tommy

Troops were at swansea station this morning

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:51 - Jul 1 with 1184 viewsLohengrin

That must have taken a lot of organising.

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:03 - Jul 1 with 1169 viewsfather_jack

and in castle square lunchtime

DRINK, FECK, GIRRRRLLSSS!

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:19 - Jul 1 with 1147 viewsTreforys_Jack

I didn't realise until fairly recently that a lot of these ceremonies and commemorations are an annual event.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:25 - Jul 1 with 1146 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:19 - Jul 1 by Treforys_Jack

I didn't realise until fairly recently that a lot of these ceremonies and commemorations are an annual event.


If you ever get chance to go to Ypres, mate, the Last Post is sounded at the Menin Gate 365 days a year.

Next July sees the centenary of Passchendaele....

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:34 - Jul 1 with 1137 viewsTreforys_Jack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:25 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

If you ever get chance to go to Ypres, mate, the Last Post is sounded at the Menin Gate 365 days a year.

Next July sees the centenary of Passchendaele....


Will do definitely, I've been doing WW2 battlefields and sites.Will start with WW1 soon as I feel I dont really know much about it. Any recommendations?
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:53 - Jul 1 with 1128 viewsHighjack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:26 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

Were any of you watching the ceremony this morning at Thiepval? Midway through as Charles Dance was giving a reading of Sassoon's Aftermath it began to rain slowly and steadily...
"Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."

Then as the poem ended the microphones began to pick up the chorus of songbirds and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had began. It was as if Bellona herself had been looking down and wept at the memory of all she had witnessed on that chalk rise exactly a hundred years ago to the second.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I wasn't the only one to have felt the power of the moment. Shirley Williams was in floods of tears.

"Sometimes when I wake, in those moments before my head clears, I'm back there on that morning of July 1st. It's not some fanciful imagining, I'm there. There's a part of me trapped there among all the boys who don't age; I feel its shadow pass across me, hear its siren call across the years... one minute to go."

[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 18:11]


That photo. In the face of all they were going through they are still so cheerful. The lad on the right at the front looks barely old enough to be out of nappies. Puts all of our 21st century worries to shame.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:08 - Jul 1 with 1121 viewsGowerjack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 14:26 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

Were any of you watching the ceremony this morning at Thiepval? Midway through as Charles Dance was giving a reading of Sassoon's Aftermath it began to rain slowly and steadily...
"Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of the War that you'll never forget."

Then as the poem ended the microphones began to pick up the chorus of songbirds and the rain stopped as suddenly as it had began. It was as if Bellona herself had been looking down and wept at the memory of all she had witnessed on that chalk rise exactly a hundred years ago to the second.

It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I wasn't the only one to have felt the power of the moment. Shirley Williams was in floods of tears.

"Sometimes when I wake, in those moments before my head clears, I'm back there on that morning of July 1st. It's not some fanciful imagining, I'm there. There's a part of me trapped there among all the boys who don't age; I feel its shadow pass across me, hear its siren call across the years... one minute to go."

[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 18:11]


Im in tears looking at that photo.

Boys no older than my sons.

And not to forget it was the same on both sides.

And have we learned?

I'm not sure.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:17 - Jul 1 with 1112 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 15:34 - Jul 1 by Treforys_Jack

Will do definitely, I've been doing WW2 battlefields and sites.Will start with WW1 soon as I feel I dont really know much about it. Any recommendations?


If you are starting from the point of not knowing too much as yet then I'd strongly suggest you book yourself on a Ledger trip. Their "All Quiet on the Western Front" tour is an absolute Godsend for interested folk like yourself. You can do either the four or five day trip that takes in both Flanders and The Somme. A professional historian as a guide, all transport and a decent hotel for £279pp.

That's the boy for you. Ideal.

PS: ...and, no. Before you ask I'm not on commission!

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:29 - Jul 1 with 1098 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:08 - Jul 1 by Gowerjack

Im in tears looking at that photo.

Boys no older than my sons.

And not to forget it was the same on both sides.

And have we learned?

I'm not sure.


That photo was taken on 30th June, 1916 on the way up to the line. Twelve hours or so later most of them would be laying dead or wounded in front of the German positions. They are most of them ghosts already, they just don't know it.

"If you want the old battalion,
We know where they are
- Hanging on the old barbed wire."
[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 16:30]

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:35 - Jul 1 with 1079 viewsperchrockjack

Ive often wondered how "neutral" countries feel when we reflect on this slaughter. Countries like Switzerland, Sweden and dear old Ireland although mid way through the ww1 the Irish were fighting US when we were involved in a world war.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:37 - Jul 1 with 1075 viewsTreforys_Jack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:17 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

If you are starting from the point of not knowing too much as yet then I'd strongly suggest you book yourself on a Ledger trip. Their "All Quiet on the Western Front" tour is an absolute Godsend for interested folk like yourself. You can do either the four or five day trip that takes in both Flanders and The Somme. A professional historian as a guide, all transport and a decent hotel for £279pp.

That's the boy for you. Ideal.

PS: ...and, no. Before you ask I'm not on commission!


cheers, I've done 2 of the leger tours , Normandy and Arnhem , as you say brilliant. The accompanying historians are incredible, what a job ! Got got 1 more lined up in early 2017 then will start with WW1 , I only asked wondering if it was better going under your own steam.
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:45 - Jul 1 with 1057 viewsTreforys_Jack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:29 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

That photo was taken on 30th June, 1916 on the way up to the line. Twelve hours or so later most of them would be laying dead or wounded in front of the German positions. They are most of them ghosts already, they just don't know it.

"If you want the old battalion,
We know where they are
- Hanging on the old barbed wire."
[Post edited 1 Jul 2016 16:30]


They look like their going on a night out by the expressions and body language, they were either inhumanly brave or had no inkling what awaited them. Going back through the rows of faces , all happy and dare I say it excited even. Tragic
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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:57 - Jul 1 with 1047 viewsLohengrin

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:37 - Jul 1 by Treforys_Jack

cheers, I've done 2 of the leger tours , Normandy and Arnhem , as you say brilliant. The accompanying historians are incredible, what a job ! Got got 1 more lined up in early 2017 then will start with WW1 , I only asked wondering if it was better going under your own steam.


You could make your own way but I suppose the thing is if your knowledge of The Great War is fairly nascent then you may not get the most out of your time there. You may perhaps not know where to go and be scratching your head as to what you're looking at when you get there. The Somme region especially is rolling farmland, very rural, and it could be a bit of a blank canvass without a guide there to add colour?

Once you've done a guided trip mind you, you'll have the lay of the land. Read as much and as widely as time allows then there's nothing stopping you from going across whenever you like.

An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it.

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Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 17:04 - Jul 1 with 1034 viewsTreforys_Jack

Two Minutes of your time for those who gave all of theirs. on 16:57 - Jul 1 by Lohengrin

You could make your own way but I suppose the thing is if your knowledge of The Great War is fairly nascent then you may not get the most out of your time there. You may perhaps not know where to go and be scratching your head as to what you're looking at when you get there. The Somme region especially is rolling farmland, very rural, and it could be a bit of a blank canvass without a guide there to add colour?

Once you've done a guided trip mind you, you'll have the lay of the land. Read as much and as widely as time allows then there's nothing stopping you from going across whenever you like.


Thanks for the advice though I did have to look up "nascent".
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