Brandhoek Cemetery is the place where Captain Noel Chavasse is buried. Captain Chavasse is one of just three soldiers to have been awarded Britain’s highest award for valour, the Victoria Cross. On top of that, he was also accorded the Military Cross. I am at present reading a book entitled “In Foreign Fields” by Dan Collins and it is regarding troopers who have been granted medals in Afghanistan and Iraq. The moment you recognise exactly what a soldier had to achieve in order to be granted an MC, it truly allows you to comprehend what a bold person Captain Chavasse was especially when he was a member of the Royal medical Corps and never fired a shot in the course of the war.
My next stop was near to the village of Passchendaele at the biggest British Military Cemetery at Tynecot. About 12,000 soldiers lie buried here. From Tynecot, you’re able to see for several miles everywhere across fields and it seems difficult to think about the horror that had been there 90 years ago. The visitors centre provides a historical past of the vicinity and the names of a number of the fallen and missing are sent out restfully over audio speakers.
From Tynecot, I started to head back on the way to Ypres stopping at Hill 61 (Sanctuary Wood) en route. There is a modest museum and a few preserved trenches . In the course of my visit, the weather conditions wasn’t kind and while it had been nothing like as terrible as conditions would have been for the duration of World War I, the bottom of the trenches still looked pretty horrible. It cost a couple of Euros to get in and this was the initial spot I really started to discover the effects of the notorious mud.
My next intended stop was the Hooge Crater. As previously in the day, I had a hard time trying to locate it although I did find a modest independent museum known as the Hooge Crater Museum which in fact had an intriguing assortment of artefacts such as a British Ambulance and a Victoria Cross. My sightseeing for the day was not complete as I still wanted to check out the popular Cloth Hall that was just about ruined (since totally reconstructed) and the Last Post ceremony which is carried out at 8pm every evening at the Menin Gate. I always find the Last Post extremely haunting and moving to hear. After it was finished, 2 wreaths were placed by young British soldiers and was followed by a recital from Laurence Binyon’s “For The Fallen”
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
The focus of many visits to Ypres is the Last Post at the Menin Gate each evening at 8 o’clock.
Throughout the build up to the Allied invasion in Normandy in 1944, a terrific deal of preparation and organizing was required. Data was consistently being gained by a network of spies whilst materials and equipment were being brought to England. These would be vital all through and following what was and still is the largest invasion force ever assembled.
Organisation and exercises was a necessary aspect of the plans. Rangers who were to attack Point du Hoc became proficient by climbing cliffs and soldiers staged practice beach landings. A big component of the planning of secrecy and the locals of the uk were required to play their part. In Devon, an area called Slapton Sands was identified as a superb practice area due to the parallels with the Utah landing beach in Normandy.
Exercises for the landings began in late 1943 with the main invasion scheduled for June 1944. With 3,000 local people were evacuated from the region near Slapton Sands. Various exercises were organised and amongst the most significant was Operation Tiger with close to 30,000 men (approximately one third of the existing size of the British Army) were to be involved.
Exercise Tiger occurred in late April 1944. The first practice landings were carried out without any difficulties but throughout the exercise planned for the early hours of 28th April 1944, disaster struck. German E-Boats operating from Cherbourg intercepted a convoy of 8 LST (Landing ships). They aimed torpedoes at the LSTs and desperate men jumped into the freezing waters to get away the sinking ships. A good number of had not been taught how to put on their life vests and drowned.
In addition to the E-Boat attacks, more men died on the beaches themselves. The use of live ammunition had been authorised and in addition to the fatalities in the sea, there were further casualties by friendly fire as they strayed into the wrong sections of the beaches.
Overall in excess of 900 men were killed during Exercise Tiger and it was nearly forty years before the facts were made public. Ironically, only nearly 200 men died on Utah beach during the real landings in Normandy on 6th June 1944. Today, a Sherman Tank is on display at Slapton Sands as a memorial to the men who died throughout Exercise Tiger.
The D-Day landings at Normandy were carried out by the largest invasion task force the world had seen. Exercise Tiger was part of the preparations for the invasion.
If you are at all interested in either pennsylvania or American history, you will certainly have heard of Gettysburg, pennsylvania and the historic activities that took place there during the American Civil War. The three day long battle that took place there in July 1863 was cruel and bloody, but was hailed as a victory for the Unionist north.
However, one glance in the Union Army burial ground in the Gettysburg National Cemetery on Cemetery Hill will convince you that the victory came at a very high price. The cost in human life and human suffering was gigantic on both sides. Later in the same year, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech which was to become famous throughout the world as the Gettysburg Address.
These days, the Gettysburg National Military Park is a tranquil place, but it serves as a moving reminder of the battle that was fought, the strategies employed, the heroism of the combatants and the willingness of military leaders to sacrifice the common soldier for political objectives.
If you go to the Gettysburg National Military Park, you would do well to begin your trip in the visitors’ centre. There you will be able to pick up books, pamphlets and leaflets to help you orient yourself when you are on the battlefield, even if you are familiar with how and where the genuine battle was fought.
If you feel that it would be too much for you to work things out for yourself or if you do not have much time, you could join one of the regular guided tours. If you are somewhere in between these two positions, you could first watch a film in the Cycloarma Center, where there are also historical objects recovered from the battleground on the numerous excavations that have taken place over the nearly 150 years since the battle at Gettysburg took place. If you do not look around the museum before you go on to the battleground, you ought to look later.
If you are visiting Gettysburg to enlighten your children about that most important era of American history, you ought to first check out the special interest programmes available to 7-12 year olds in the warmer summer months. One programme allows children to enlist in the army of 1863 for an hour in order to get a sense for what it was like for soldiers of the day and what it was like for the children that helped them go into battle.
Another programme consists of a story-teller telling stories of what it was like to be a youngster in the days of the Civil War and the role that kids played both in the war and in civilian life back then.
Gettysburg is a fascinating place to visit whether your family was involved in the battle there or not. Many of the combatants’ names and place names like Devil’s Den and Cemetery Hill will already be known to you and a visit to the Gettysburg National Military Park will bring them back to life for you.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on many topics, but is at present concerned with thinking about the Poconos International Raceway in pennsylvania. If you would like to know more or check out some great offers, please go to our website at Poconos Vacations.
There is a very large number of wedding rings available in the shops these days. In fact, you have the world of wedding rings to choose from. The high street shops in a large town have a very good selection, but the Internet lays the best jewellers and the best styles out for your inspection.
So, it is essential that you take your time when selecting one. Maybe the enormous range of wedding rings makes that more difficult not easier. Diamond wedding rings have been the most popular since ordinary working people could afford them, before that a plain band of gold had to be enough, for people who could afford that much.
Nowadays, Western people have become more daring and they are choosing other stones like the strikingly beautiful blue sapphire. Some even deciding not to have a stone at all, going back to tradition, so to speak. However, there are lots of examples of not so simple bands of gold too.
There is the Irish Claddagh ring with its characteristic two hands holding a crowned heart symbolizing love, friendship and loyalty; and there is the Celtic Knot with its intricately interwoven strands twisting and turning without end, standing for eternity and eternal love despite the twists and turns and difficulties of daily life.
So, selecting a wedding ring is not just a question of picking a beautiful wedding ring, you should be choosing one that says what you want it to say. You could look up on the Internet what the different metals and various stones indicate traditionally. If you cannot find a ring that says what you want, consider having one made. It is not as expensive as you might think.
Tradition is a good thing when it comes to wedding rings. After all, you want your ring to express your everlasting love and devotion for the person you are giving it to and your marriage could last fifty or sixty years, especially with people living longer these days. With a bit of luck, you will wear this ring for the rest of your life, so pick a style that seems timeless to you.
Selecting a wedding ring is not as easy as it looks, because you are going to be wearing your ring every day for the rest of your life, so it should be something that you will not get tired of in a couple years. You should look at and try on many rings in order to get one that feels comfortable. You will want a ring that does not look out of date in ten years time. The simplest way of doing that is to go for a traditional style, because those styles have already stood the test of time.
One last piece of advice is to ask the jeweller to attest to the total carat weight of the stones in the ring and the weight of each individual stone and the quality and weight of the metal (although it should be hallmarked) on paper, then if it gets lost or stolen you have something to show the insurance company.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Celtic knot wedding ring. If you have an interest in gold rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring
Australian and new Zealand soldiers who lost their lives while fighting in the world’s fiercest wars were laid to rest at Gallipoli. You can find tours of the region giving you an insight at the efforts in the commemoration and preservation of these fallen heroes who make both Aussies and Kiwis proud.
Beginning 25th April 1915 to 9th January 1916, in World War 1, the Gallipoli campaign was launched in the Turkish Peninsula of Gallipoli. In an effort to maintain a sea route to Russia and take the Ottoman capital, the British joined forces with the French. The campaign was a failure with each side enduring heavy deaths and injuries.
This campaign led to the first major battle ever undertaken using a joint force of Australians and new Zealand Army Corps also known as ANZAC. The two countries consider this campaign as the birth of national consciousness. The Anzac Commemorative Site is considered the most significant destination and excursion sites.
In the early hours of 25th April 1915, the 1st Australian Division arrived at Anzac Cove on the shoreline positioned on the north beach. It was here where Albert Jacka had become the first Aussie to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Jacka fought off an assault on the part of trench he was in from 7 Turkish solders. Having a visual portrayal showing the campaign story, this memorial site retains a commemorative focus. A moving annual dawn service is held at this site every year on the anniversary. Usually in the chilly pre-dawn, thousands of people gather here to commemorate the legacy left behind by the fallen heroes of World War 1.
An additional important destination is the Chunuk Bair Cemetery located on the ridge running on the north eastern side of the Brighton beach. Among the main goals of the Chunuk Bair is the Sari Bair Battle of August 6th to 10th, 1915. The new Zealand Infantry Brigade were responsible for this assault but the Turkish Army Corps in the end overran them.
Commonwealth troops who died in battle were laid to rest at the Chunuk Bair Cemetery by the enemy. A total of 632 Commonwealth servicemen are laid to rest at this cemetery along with approximately 850 new Zealand troopers who were killed on the peninsula. The architect of the Gallipoli campaign was the one and only Winston Churchill. The overall Allied losses were over 200,000 and ironically, the most successful part of the operation was the retreat.
The Gallipoli operation was nothing short of a catastrophe. No ground was taken and losses were extreme. The casualties were particularly bad for Australia and new Zealand.
1st July 1916 saw the Allies launched a massive offensive along a 25 mile section of the Western Front. The offensive happened to the north of the River Somme in rural France. Little villages are dotted all over the area along with the town of Albert. It was to be the battle that for lots of people, defined the horrors of the trench warfare of The First World War.
The Battle of the Somme lasted about 4 months with precious little gain for Britain and her Allies. The casualties sustained by each side were horrendous; Britain sustained 420,000 killed and wounded, the French 200,000 and the German Army close to 500,000.
The German soldiers were well dug in and tactically held the high ground consequently it was evident a massive effort would be necessary to make inroads into their lines. The plan was to lay down an artillery bombardment for seven days in advance of the attack. In addition, various mines were laid beneath the German lines. It was predicted that the mines and artillery would cause such destruction, Britain and her Allies would merely need to move over no mans land and take the trenches. Tragically, this was far from the situation.
For 7 days prior to the attack, a fearsome barrage was laid down by Allied Forces firing 1.7m shells. Even so, the German trenches were dug deep into the earth delivering them with relative protection from the barrage. The mines did contribute to deaths as intended but in general, the Germans had enough time to make ready their defences once the artillery ceased and Britain and her Allies went over the top.
All along the line, the scenario was similar. Brave men went over the top and were killed prior to getting anywhere close to their objectives. At Beaumont Hamel, only 68 of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, ended the day uninjured out of around 800 men. At La Boisselle, the Tyneside Irish was effectively destroyed as it endeavoured to advance more than 1 mile across open ground in full sight of German machine guns.
Nevertheless, there were some achievements. The French had made advances in the north and south of the lines. The 36th Ulster advanced on and took the Schwaben Redoubt and so becoming one of the few to accomplish their main objective. Unfortunately, running low on ammo, German counter attacks compelled the Ulstermen to pull back later that day.
The 1st day of the Somme had cost the British almost 54,000 casualties, 21,000 of those being killed. Nowadays, the site of the Schwaben Redoubt is marked by the Ulster Tower and in close proximity at Thiepval, the Memorial to the Missing commemorates the names of around 70,000 men who fought at the Battle of the Somme.
The futility of trench warfare in the Great War are summed up by the first day of the Somme. Military tactics had been left behind by the progress in weapons technology and resulted in the deaths of thousands of men.
All through The Great War, the slaughter over the fields of Flanders was on an awful scale with the majority of bodies never identified or recovered. On 11th November 1920, simultaneously ceremonies were held both in london and Paris to unveil tombs of unknown soldiers.
The tomb of the unknown soldier came to depict the loss sustained by the families of troopers who died and their bodies were never identified or brought back. The unknown French soldier lies in the Arc de Triomphe in Paris while the unknown British soldier lies buried in Westminster Abbey amongst nobleman and statesmen.
The concept was initially thought of by a clergyman named Reverend David Railton. In 1916 in France, he had found a cross with the words “An Unknown British Soldier” written on it. 4 years later in 1920, Railton approached the Dean of Westminster indicating it may be acceptable to create a nationally recognised grave for an unknown soldier.
4 British servicemen were exhumed from Aisne, the Somme, Arras and Ypres and taken to a chapel at St Pol, close to Arras. Each body was covered in a Union flag then one was selected by Brigadier General L J Wyatt. Wyatt had no idea where the soldiers had been taken from or their rank. The point was that the unknown soldier may perhaps have been anyone from a private to a Colonel, a colonial manual worker to the son of an Earl.
The soldiers casket was sent to london and was delivered to Westminster Abbey in a horse drawn gun carriage. The cortege was accompanied by King George V and members of the Royal family. At Westminster Abbey, it was flanked by a guard of 100 winners of the Victoria Cross.
The coffin was placed and covered with dirt brought from the battlefields of World War I. It was topped with a piece of black marble from Belgium and is the only tombstone in Westminster Abbey on which it’s forbidden to step on.
Ever since then, various other nations have dedicated very similar tombs such as Argentina, Australia, Canada, Germany, Iraq, Japan, Russia, Ukraine and the United states.
World War I was reduced to a bloody stalemate that saw so many lives needlessly given. Few families in Great Britain remained unaffected.
On the outbreak of World War I in 1914, most believed it would be concluded by Christmas. Patriotic teenage men were keen to join the army as soon as possible as they presumed they would miss out on the action. However, history has confirmed that their confidence was misdirected as the war would not finish right up until 1918. The German advance was stopped at the 1st Battle of Marne and the drive for the sea started out as the Allies and Germans both dug in. It was the start of the trench warfare of the Western Front.
The end result was lines of trenches running from the north Sea to Switzerland along a 440 mile front. The battle lines moved very little as a battle of attrition broke out. Original trenches were not well built and were prone to cave in. Even by trench warfare standards, 1914 was pretty horrendous. As winter approached, the soldiers on the front line knew that the war would not be all over by Xmas after all.
The Western Front ran through Belgium and France with infantry from France, Belgium and Great Britain guarding a number of sectors. In certain positions, the German trenches were less than 30 yards away. Being in such close proximity allowed the infantry to shout at their opponents or even display signs. On the German belt buckles was the inscription “Gott Mitt Uns” (God is with us). The British reply was “We’ve got mittens too”. Some of the shouting matches were a bit more black humour. A volley of shots would bring the shout “Missed” or “Right a bit”.
Even so, it was these exchanges that laid the foundations of a number of surprising moments along the Western Front on 24th December 1914. The Germans celebrate Xmas on the 24th as opposed to uk and France who celebrate on the 25th). The weather had improved a lot and on the 24th, the sounds from the German trenches were completely different. They began singing carols and put Christmas Trees on their trenches. Men started calling to each other and finally, some embarked into no mans land where they talked and exchanged cigarettes, food and souvenirs. Stories of the truce may differ as there were actually several truces throughout the lines. They were predominantly in the parts manned by the British as the Germans were occupying Belgium and French land so the Christmas spirit was less in evidence amongst these men.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 was unofficial but as many as 100,000 soldiers were thought to have been involved. As well as fraternisation, the chance was also taken to reclaim and bury the fallen. One of the most famous parts of the truce was the football match between the British and Germans. There are lots of conflicting tales concerning the match with an array of finals scores. This would suggest there were quite a few games at various places.
The duration the truce lasted also varied but generally, it was over on Xmas Day. By and large, the war resumed by mutual arrangement. In one case, on the morning of the 26th December 1914, Captain Stockwell of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers fired into the air and stood above the parapet. His opposite number in the German trench also stood up, they saluted and stepped down. Captain Stockwell heard the German fire a couple of shots into the air and World War I resumed. Never the less, the Xmas Truce was very much against the wishes of British commanders and in the following years, artillery barrages were ordered for Xmas Eve.
In 2008, a plaque to the Xmas Truce on the Western Front was unveiled at the village on Frelinghen and was the first memorial to the incidents of Christmas 1914. The legacy the truce left behind is substantial with a multitude of books being published and it was also the inspiration for a number of songs.
Throughout World War One, fighting on the Western Front was horrendous but despite this, British and German soldiers still found time to be human for a short time in December 1914.
The summer months of 1940 saw World War II reach the English skies as the Royal Air Force heroically fought off the endless attacks of Hitler’s Luftwaffe. After a phase known as the ‘Phoney War’, Hitler had ordered his forces to invade several other European countries and they met minimal resistance in Belgium, Holland or France.
Operation Dynamo saw about 300,000 men of the BEF plucked to safety by a flotilla of boats who made crossing out of England to Dunkirk over a number of days. So now Hitler had his sights on England. The white cliffs of Dover were clearly in view as the German High Command gazed across the English Channel from Calais.
Having said that, until the skies over England were under German control, Hitler couldn’t authorise Operation Sealion – the invasion of uk. With America being reluctant to participate in the war at this stage and her Allies vanquished, Britain would need to face the Germans on their own.
Could Britain hold out until the summer was over when the weather would thwart the Germans from crossing the Channel? British hopes was in the hands of the brave pilots of the Royal Air Force, “The Few” as Churchill later referred to them. It wasn’t merely British airmen in the RAF, the Commonwealth was represented with pilots from an array of colonial outposts like as south Africa and Rhodesia as well as Poles and even a couple of Americans.
Hitler sent the Luftwaffe over to hammer uk into submission however crucially, their fighter escorts only had the fuel for only a few minutes combat before they would have to go back leaving the bombers unprotected. For the first time, the Luftwaffe came up against firm resistance and there was to be no repeat of their speedy victories on the Continent. Britain’s airfields in the south east were suffering a beating until one night in August 1940, a German bomber got lost and dumped its bombs over london before heading home. In retaliation, the RAF launched an air raid on Berlin.
Hitler was furious and instructed his aircraft to attack london and not the RAF airfields. This was a decisive turning point as it gave the RAF some much needed relief. The Luftwaffe failed to achieve the upper hand at any point and in mid September, Hitler indefinitely postponed Operation Sealion. The risk of attack was gone and Churchill spoke of the contribution of Fighter Command in a widely known speech “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few”.
The number one fighter ace was Sgt Frantisek from the Czech Republic with a score of 17 kills. He flew in a Hawker Hurricane which was the true workhorse of Fighter Command but everybody remembers the iconic Spitfire. Sgt Frantisek was killed in October 1940.
The Battle of Britain was the first time the Germans had suffered a military defeat during World War II.
Defeating Germany in the Battle of Britain allowed Britain and her Allies could continue with World War II with Germany.
The recent Spending Review conducted by the coalition Government outlined plans to make wide-ranging cuts to the nhs. Analysts predict that as many as 50,000 medical staff may lose their jobs as a result. Groups within the nhs and a large proportion of the public are voicing grave concerns about the impact this will have on patients.
By 2015, the Government is aiming to reduce management costs by 45%. Critics of the plans, however, have drawn attention to the fact that the nhs relies on managers to run efficiently, and suggested that the commissioning and delivery of new services will be undermined. There is particular uncertainty about how the new GPs’ consortia will work in practice, and many fear that there will be a relatively chaotic period as the nhs strains to adapt.
With such fundamental changes planned for the nhs, there are serious questions about how the patient experience will be affected. During any transitional period, there is a real chance that structural weaknesses and confusion could put patients in a vulnerable position.
With such major changes due to take place in the nhs, the main worry is that patients will receive a lower standard of care. There is a genuine risk that structural flaws and disorientation could put patients in a vulnerable position during any period of transition.
Most British people rely on the services provided by the nhs. The fact that such a key element of the welfare state is being meddled with so ruthlessly is something that many people are worried about. If anti-cuts campaigners are to be believed, the structural reorganisation of the health service could well leave patients exposed to a lower standard of care, and could leave the nhs exposed to a rise in medical negligence claims.
Get more information on medical negligence law.
