Young Fellow My Lad "Where are you going, Young Fellow My Lad, On this glittering morn of May?" "I'm going to join the Colours, Dad; They're looking for men, they say." "But you're only a boy, Young Fellow My Lad; You aren't obliged to go." "I'm seventeen and a quarter, Dad, And ever so strong, you know." . . . . . "So you're off to France, Young Fellow My Lad, And you're looking so fit and bright." "I'm terribly sorry to leave you, Dad, But I feel that I'm doing right." "God bless you and keep you, Young Fellow My Lad, You're all of my life, you know." "Don't worry. I'll soon be back, dear Dad, And I'm awfully proud to go." . . . . . "Why don't you write, Young Fellow My Lad? I watch for the post each day; And I miss you so, and I'm awfully sad, And it's months since you went away. And I've had the fire in the parlour lit, And I'm keeping it burning bright Till my boy comes home; and here I sit Into the quiet night." . . . . . "What is the matter, Young Fellow My Lad? No letter again to-day. Why did the postman look so sad, And sigh as he turned away? I hear them tell that we've gained new ground, But a terrible price we've paid: God grant, my boy, that you're safe and sound; But oh I'm afraid, afraid." . . . . . "They've told me the truth, Young Fellow My Lad: You'll never come back again: (OH GOD! THE DREAMS AND THE DREAMS I'VE HAD, AND THE HOPES I'VE NURSED IN VAIN!) For you passed in the night, Young Fellow My Lad, And you proved in the cruel test Of the screaming shell and the battle hell That my boy was one of the best. "So you'll live, you'll live, Young Fellow My Lad, In the gleam of the evening star, In the wood-note wild and the laugh of the child, In all sweet things that are. And you'll never die, my wonderful boy, While life is noble and true; For all our beauty and hope and joy We will owe to our lads like You"
It was written by a chap called Robert William Service - I found it on a Facebook post, and felt just like you. Had to share it.
It's often the case though. Extreme emotions provoke extreme creativity and effect. It's a very thought provoking piece.
Well, a heartwarming example of how to 'do' remembrance well.......my daughter's school arranged for 92 year old WW2 and Berlin Airlift veteran Rusty Waughman, a bomber pilot in 101 squadron (Aussie will tell us what he flew), to talk to the girls for an hour. Hmm, I thought, my daughter is keen on history, but she is also a 15 year old girl, how is this old bloke going to get anything across to her and her kind? Never fear, apparently he was brilliant, very funny and my daughter hasn't stopped relaying his stories since she got home. Including - one of the planes in his flight blowing up underneath them and flipping his plane over. When he righted it he called out to the crew to see if all was ok, and his navigator was yelling 'blood, blood' and trying to wipe liquid from his eyes. But it wasn't blood, it was piss from the pot they all used and which was kept in the only part of the plane where it wouldn't freeze - the navigators area. Also, another one of his flight crashing into his plane and tearing off lumps of its landing gear, tail section and cutting out all the electricity and radio. They decided to fly on as they were only 5 miles away for the target, with the crew manually pushing the bombs out of the bomb hatch, and got back 2 hours later than expected, writing off what was left of the plane on landing. To learn that the mission had been aborted. He got through several planes but didn't lose a single crew member during the war. He still drinks with some of them. But to bring home the true gravity of what he went through he got the girls to stand up and then sit down in groups until about 25% of them were still standing and told them - that's how many bomber crew came through alive and whole. I only wish I had gone to listen to him.
Cheers Aussie, apparently Rusty also mentioned the special radio stuff, while not mentioning the extra risk this entailed. Which is somehow not surprising.
It’s that time of year again and I’ve just seen Huw Edwards on the news sporting the first poppy of the season. So in Remembrance of Swords this thread is resurrected. Dulce et Decorum est pro patria mori. Respect to the fallen and wounded everywhere.
My daughter's other half told me earlier this evening that Wetherspoon's had banned their staff from wearing poppies. I thought it odd, so checked it out - fake news. How do we feel about white poppies?
Having just looked it up, I think it deprives the British Legion of donations, and only makes sense if you think wearing the red poppy means you support war, which it doesn’t, at least for me. Bit attention seeking.
Of course it should be a personal choice whether to wear a red, white or sky blue pink poppy, or none at all. Personally I don’t think the wearing of a white poppy is any more an anti war statement than wearing a red one, it just seems to me to put pacifism ahead of remembering the dead at a time when we try to remember the dead. Just my view. And anyway, I can’t remember ever seeing a white one worn by anyone.
I thought I was the contrarian on here. Just been reading through this thread. Swords was a very good poster when he wasn’t being a twat. Unlike Aqualung, surely the biggest twat ever to post on here, though I’m not particularly proud of my own response to him.
