A moment of your time.

[Dale-of-Cedars]

My grandfather survived the Great War; he was an Acting Sergeant - mentioned in dispatches- with the 24th Battalion (Victoria Rifles) CEF - 5th Infantry Brigade, 2nd Canadian Division - out of Montreal QC.
I never got to meet him before he passed, but my mother related he was attached to the division headquarters and worked on maps and aerial reconnaissance photos (one of them below) and so fought his war behind the lines with pencil, pen and ink.

Note: photo dated 16 August 1917, I'm guessing near Lens, France; according to the battalion war diaries.

[jhockin]

Some of you (esp. In Scotland) may already know this song, and singer, but I only just stubbled across it (and him), and thought this song fitting for this thread:

[tripleblessed]

I was hesitant to weigh in here, as this is a subject which has affected my life in particular and others in ways I can't and/or
possibly don't want to imagine. My grandfather served in the cavalry in various branches of service on and off for about 20
years. Went with Pershing to the Philippines, rode under his orders after Pancho Villa, and ended his career in France upon
severe damage eliminating a machine nest which had pinned down the boys he took over the top and was decimating them.
His left side, ankle to shoulder, had holes he didn't realize were there until later. His grateful government sent him home with no pension, no health care, and proceeded to lose the records. The only reason we know some of it is his younger brother landed in his unit in France as a replacement. A box of medals doesn't feed your kids, so my father spent much of his childhood with whoever in the family could feed him for a few weeks or months. The impact on my childhood is not possible to tell, nor would it be of interest.

My mother's uncle made it back here, but spent the next 66 years in and out of the Old Soldiers' Home in Mountain Home, Tennessee. Out when he could handle work, in when he couldn't.

A (very) distant cousin was killed at Gallipoli, with untold cost. Ernest Rutherford, for whom he worked, and Niels Bohr
and Hans Geiger, with whom he worked said more than once there would been at least one Nobel Prize, and probably more, had they succeeded in talking him out of enlisting. If this happened to my family, in the US, it has been clear to me from childhood that those
in Europe suffered worse; the possible gain from such activity is far out weighed by the costs.

I have enormous respect for all who serve, and none for those who choose to waste lives in fruitless pursuits. I am always appreciative of the remembrance of others similarly affected, and am frequently moved to tears by the efforts
of those in the battle areas to keep the memories alive and the graves in honorable order.

I've always prayed, "Never again", but leaders appear to be out of touch with all who pray, and with the Source in Whom
we all pray.

[ctbuchanan]

This is the only photo we have of my grandfather that was taken during WWI. Sadly I don't know what unit he was in, but he served in France. He survived and lived a good full life.

[Nathan]

The toll of loss in that War was tremendous. Most of the people from Allied countries will likely have had a relative killed or injured in this conflict.

I think often of my father's uncle Daniel (aka Donald) Vincent MacDonald who fell in France fighting with the West Novies. He looked much like my brother Xavier (@xman on here) so his photo was pulled out often. Between the two sides of my family there were several others.

N

[Matty Ross]

This thread reminds me of a song I have listened to many times as it is on Corries CD.
I love this song but can some one tell me about the music mentioned in the song. Last Boston chorus, The flowers of the forest, and the death March?

[Downunder Kilt]

Matty, they are referring to the Last Post in chorus (known as Taps in the US) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Post#Memorial_usage
Flowers of the Forrest, a well known piping tune often played at funerals, and
the Death March, aka, the Funeral march, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funeral_march. As can be seen from that entry there are many tunes which qualify. Cheers

The song was written by Eric Bogle, a Scot who immigrated to Australiaand who wrote several songs about WW1, a notable one being "And the band played Waltzing Matilda"