Smug, I don’t know if you are aware, but you can go onto the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and get information about his grave. You can also download his Commemorative Certificate. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/
That's wonderful mate and I'll definitely do that. He was from a poor family and fighting a long way from home. The idea of anyone visiting his grave wasn't realistic. So when we found him it was coming up to 100 years without anyone from his family visiting. I thought it would be a detour, lay some flowers and back on the road. But when we arrived I had to ask Mrs Smug to let me go alone at first. I totally broke down, sank to my knees and apologised for it being so long. It was comforting to see he had lads from the Northumberland Fusiliers and the DLI either side of him. Daft, I know.
I need to plan a trip to visit the graves of my relatives who were killed in the Great War, I have all of the details so just need to get on with it now. I am sure it will be very emotional
That's brilliant mate. Very similar to our experience, my great grandfather is buried in small graveyard called Brewery Orchard at Bois-Grenier which is a short bus journey from Armentieres. It was immaculate and like yours there was a book and a pen which visitors could sign and leave a message. To be honest we didn't want to leave him and we stayed until the last possible minute, it was a fantastic day but very emotional. We had quite a trip, we were staying in Paris, so got the first tube to the train station then the early train from Paris to Lille and then a local train to Armentieries and then a bus to the village. It took us hours to find the actual graveyard, I think we may have been deliberately sent in the wrong direction by some jovial locals who were in a bar/restaurant, I had brewery orchard wrote down on a bit of paper and this local spoke perfect English but directed us in the wrong direction, they were very friendly though Anyway we were nearly stuck there, I got our bus times wrong and we sat for a good hour when a coach pulled up and the driver realising we were stuck give us a lift back to the train station in Armentieres again, he didn't speak much English nor us much French but we got across our thanks. I can't to go back again tbh.
I was very impressed with the way the club handled the Remembrance gestures yesterday ... ... I thought it would do no harm to repost this. I've added a photo of the war grave with the yellow flowers, near Venice, where my great Uncle Tommy is buried ... ... visiting him was one of the things I'm most proud of in my life. I'll also think of the hundreds of Resistance monuments we found on our walks around France. Some were just odd pieces of marble, with the names scratched on them, and almost always kids the age of Rigg or Bellingham. And almost all 1945 when the Germans were killing people, out of sheer spite, as they were being forced to retreat. The bravery of these people, to help British servicemen escape and free their country, was incredible. Before I went to live in France I had the typical view of them, that changed profoundly. I'll be thinking of them, as well, come 11am.
Powerful.. Joshua Dyer (aged 14) was tasked at school to write a poem for Remembrance Day. An hour later (without any help) he produced this.. ONE THOUSAND MEN ARE WALKING One thousand men are walking Walking side by side Singing songs from home The spirit as their guide They walk toward the light milord, they walk towards the sun they smoke and laugh and smile together no foes to outrun. These men live on forever in the hearts of those they saved a nation truly grateful for the path of peace they paved. They march as friends and comrades but they do not march for war step closer to salvation a tranquil steady corps the meadows lit with golden beams a beacon for the brave the emerald grass untrampled a reward for what they gave. They dream of those they left behind and know they dream of them forever in those poppy fields there walks one thousand men Joshua Dyer 2019 (aged 14) This has to be shared. An incredible poem from 14 year old Joshua Dyer
My little girl was in the Remembrance Day parade today as part of the Brownies, she loved it and both parents very proud.
That's wonderful mate, really is. I knew nothing about the wars and didn't really care. My Dad never talked about it despite him being in WW2 overseas, the first time he'd ever left the NE. But over the years I've realised the sacrifice so many people made and it's more important every year. It's lovely that your little girl already knows more than I ever did as a child.
Just like my dad Smug.. I have some photos of him next to a demolished nazi tank, and also outside Belsen which he helped liberate. He rarely talked about the war and his experiences.I have a telegram from him informing my mum of his return. When pushed, I can always remember him saying the only good German was a dead one. He never openly displayed any medals and never went on any remembrance celebrations. The medals I have now passed on to my daughter. I often wished I had pressed him more about his experiences overseas. But being the man he was I doubt he would have elaborated. RIP SDS, lung cancer took him when he was 72, I am now one year behind him
Thanks mate, I've downloaded this now and will have it framed and sent to my family in the Consett area. This is just a photo, of it, but the original is excellent. Very pleased to have that and it was easy to find him ... ... I'm bumping this in case anyone else would like the link.
Great Post Jack....a mirror of my father-in-law. He was a D day vet but never spoke about it. The missus found a diary of his after he died of dementia which was his journey from embarkation from England to Germany and the end of the war, it's incredible to read, he misspelt nearly every French village he went through, was billited with a Dutch family for a week's R&R, and they kept in touch until he was too frail to do so. My wife typed it up and sent it to the National War Archives who have it on file. I'm sure many others have similar tales to tell from that remarkable generation.
Aye both the kids seem to have a good innate understanding of what the day is about and why it's important to people, it's pleasing to see.
My great grandad served in the DLI in WW1, from what we can piece together he fought at some of the worst places in ww1, when ww2 came around he was too old to go abroad and fight so was in the home guard. He never spoke to my dad about it, never mentioned the horrors he must have faced, never thought of himself as a hero. My grandads where in the navy and raf, grandad on mams side was in the Lancaster squadrons, the only thing he ever linked to the war was refusing to eat, cook or be near pork as it smelled like human flesh. Again they both never thought of themselves as hero's. I have taught all my kids to respect their elders and how important it is they remember today, be respectful to the silence and I hope they continue that and teach their kids the same. We must never forget the sacrifice our armed forces made and continue to make
As already said by me the first time, I was at the local one in Joondalup today. The silence was observed impeccably. I then came home, went about my day and paused for a second to think about my Great Uncle George who was in the Royal Artillery and torpedoed, presumed dead, on 3rd July 1941 south west of Gran Canaria. My grandad, his older brother, was on his last packet of cigarettes that my uncle had bought him. He never threw out that packet and he always harboured the belief that his brother would return. He never did. I was back in Sunderland last year. George was a Southwick lad and I understand there is a plaque on green which has the name of everyone who has died in the service of their country. To my regret I never went to see if his name was there. Then this evening I read this in the Echo and realised that it’s men like this and George that we have to thank from the bottom of our hearts for ‘doing their bit’ when their country asked. https://www.sunderlandecho.com/news...rades-who-made-the-ultimate-sacrifice-4656447
