Thought some of you may be interested in this. There will be a memorial funeral for him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5120358.stm

Lets all reflect on how lucky most of us are nowadays.

Thought some of you may be interested in this. There will be a memorial funeral for him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5120358.stm

Lets all reflect on how lucky most of us are nowadays.

Was reminded today that 20,000 british soldiers died at the Somme in a few hours....think about that for a minute....20,000

Doesn't that article just mean that when the last veteran dies, there'll be a memorial service? Seems odd that they don't mention a name?

Doesn't that article just mean that when the last veteran dies, there'll be a memorial service?

Yes, it also says there are less than 10 left.

Doesn't that article just mean that when the last veteran dies, there'll be a memorial service? Seems odd that they don't mention a name?

Ah, yes. I was jumping the gun a bit there

Was reminded today that 20,000 british soldiers died at the Somme in a few hours....think about that for a minute....20,000
what a butchers bill that was. what was the saying lions led by donkeys

Think the thread is misleading. :thumbsup:

last surviving veteran to fight (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/5090664.stm)

Its amazing what some people have lived through and come out the other end. Simply amazing.

I've contacted site admin and hopefully they will amend my missleading thread title. Be a bit of stinker if someone saw it who actually was related to one of the 10 remaining.

what a butchers bill that was. what was the saying lions led by donkeys
Indeed mate - and Gallipolli - Churchills greatest blunder :loopy:

Theres lots of expensive battles in which the blame can be firmly placed on incompetant leadership. I used the term "lions led by donkeys" in my history degree dissertation on the Battle for Monte Cassino. Must say though, World War 1 takes the biscuit. Hell on Earth - and yet there still is a statue of Field Marshall Haig in London. He, even after the war stated "The machine gun will never replace the horse as an instrument of war."

How wrong he was! :mad: :loopy:

Indeed mate - and Gallipolli - Churchills greatest blunder :loopy:

This isn't entirely accurate. Churchill wasn't really responsible for the disaster at Galipoli, or at least it was not the attack on Turkey that he had asked for. He went to great pains to clear himself afterwards but this was prevented, to some extent, by the premature death of Kitchener.

dissertation on the Battle for Monte Cassino.

My dad was there. He always said he was more scared of the Americans than the Germans.

lets give him thanks for what he did for our world - if it wasnt for brave souls like him then our lives would have been completely different to what they are now. thankyou good sir. god bless.

It is also reported today that film footage on that day 1st July 1916, previously thought to be a fake has now been verified as genuine.

It shows the bravery of Captain Edward McNaghten "Pongo" Dawson ushering his men along the trench they were occupying.

Capt. McNaghten is seen on the film to be the first one on the parapet of the trench, just after dawn when the signal was given to attack the German positions.

The German trenches had been subjected to an artillery bombardment for a full week prior to the order to "go over the top".

He died, along with the other 20000 men on that first day.


Full Story Here (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1096231.ece)

didnt the sheffield pals get virtually wiped out that day ?. as i said on an earlier thread i went to belgium to see the war graves etc ,in one of the museums there was a picture of horses bodies hung in trees after they had come under a shelling. ive never seen anything like the sites i saw out there.
god only knows the horrors those lads went through. we all owe a debt we can never repay.

My dad was there. He always said he was more scared of the Americans than the Germans.

Yea, my Grandfather was there too. Thats why i chose to do it as my subject. My Grandfather was in the Polish forces though. - The battle is seen as one of Polands most proudest events - you know, like the British see Waterloo - to some extent.

Horrifying to be honest when I started researching the conditions.

I remember one funny story.. if you like dark humour...

Basically, a British soldier sees 3 Gurkha troops laughing. He walks over and asks them what the joke is? They then go on to tell him that, the night previous one of them and snook onto the battle field, only to find 3 Nazi troops sleeping in a crater. - This is the gruesome bit - As a joke, he decided to silently behead the two Germans on either side of the Nazi in the middle. Leaving the one German in the middle still asleep and untouched.

The main joke was the idea of the Nazi in the middle, waking up, looking around and wonder wtf had happened, and scare the crap out of him.

I always remember that story. I think its in Matthew Parkers book.

The thought of 20,000 men dying in one day is terrible.
Human flesh against machine guns.
It is said that a whole generation was wiped out in that War (go to any village and look at the War Memorials) and it was not brought to any satisfactory conclusion.
The German Army were ordered to surrender by politicians when they were far from beaten, leading to the hatred engendered in Hitler and his followers (who had been brave soldiers for the most part, dont forget) which led to the WW2.
In the words of the song 'When will we ever Learn' :(

Nah! They were beaten. Just not on the battlefield. The Germans in the trenches in Belgium were surviving and still fighting.

The German citizens were starving though, not only that illness was rife through a huge flu epidemic. - This idea of politicians giving up, or the 'november criminals' is not the whole story at all.

Was reminded today that 20,000 british soldiers died at the Somme in a few hours....think about that for a minute....20,000reminded? sorry dont mean to be disrespectful to you,but you shouldnt need reminding, it should be etched in your memory, thousands died in a matter of hours for a few yards of ground,the generals such as the butcher haigue kept sending the men in against vickers machine guns that shot thousands of rounds a minute, then the germans counter attacked and got the ground back,all this whilst the generals were safe,miles behind the front lines in a french chatteu(sp) with waiters and valets, lions led by donkeys was the cry from the british people when they found out what was happening,but the establishment took no notice,even on christmas day when both sides refused to fight,the authorities forbade it and told them to continue killing, whilst they sat safe and sound in their westminster clubs or nice surburban houses,letting the working class do their duty,and protect the rich and influential

didnt the sheffield pals get virtually wiped out that day ?.

http://www.pals.org.uk/sheffield/

On 1st July 1916, the Sheffield City Battalion fought alongside the Accrington Pals in the heroic but hopeless attempt to capture the heavily-fortified village of Serre. In the memorable words of John Harris: "Two years in the making. Ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history."

90 years ago this Saturday.

Full Story Here (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1096231.ece) From shoeshines link:
'Battle of the Somme: The True Story' will be shown on Channel Five at 11.45am on Saturday
Damn... Why Channel 5? I can't get a decent picture on that. :(

There are a couple of threads on the Sheffield Pals Here (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5166) and Here (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=118032) for those that are interested.

reminded? sorry dont mean to be disrespectful to you,but you shouldnt need reminding,

What I meant was I heard it on the radio and was reminded of it. ie. it is not in the forefront of my mind 24/7. I hadn't forgotten the fact.

reminded? sorry dont mean to be disrespectful to you,but you shouldnt need reminding, it should be etched in your memory, thousands died in a matter of hours for a few yards of ground,the generals such as the butcher haigue kept sending the men in against vickers machine guns that shot thousands of rounds a minute,

Don't mean to be pedantic but.....

The German standard machine gun in WWI was the MG08 HMG. Based on original MAXIM MG.
Reportedly responsible for the greatest number of casualties on the Western Front.

The Vickers was used by the British Forces.

I am sorry but I am going to bring the thread back to the subject.

I think it is a mistake to have a national service for the last serviceman to die. The problem will be that they are bound to get it wrong. They will have only a few days between the death of the person they think is last, and an announcement being made. Once they make an announcement then someone else is bound to come forward. Perhaps someone is British but living abroad, for example. They will then have to decide whether to go ahead with the ceremony for the second to last man to die, or to cancel. Whichever they decide, there will be trouble.

reminded? sorry dont mean to be disrespectful to you,but you shouldnt need reminding, it should be etched in your memory

I have to admit, i reckon there has been days when i haven't thought about the Somme....

no need to jump down someones throat though!