06 Aug 2009 12:00 AM:
I thought it would be appropriate today , after watching the funeral of Harry Patch , that perhaps everyone who reads this could spend a few moments to reflect on the enormous sacrifice made by all those who fought for Britain and for the cause of peace everywhere . Just think of all the conflicts where our service personel have given their lives so that we may live in peace , regardless of Politics - they had no choice .
WW1
WW2
Korea
Malaya
Suez
Northern Ireland
The Falkland Islands
Iraq
Afghanistan
Sorry if I have missed any out . The red text by the way is chosen to match the colour of Poppies which Harry was so fond of.
My personal reflections of WW1 have been passed down to me by my dear Mother , who is still going strong at the age of 91 , and refer to my Grandfather , William George Wain who was a Private in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He served somewhere in France ( whereabouts unknown ) around 1916 /17 until he was found wounded in a shell hole , having lain there for two days . He was then shipped home to a hospital ( I guess he must have had some leave or my Mother would not have been born ). After this he was sent to Messopotania ( Now Iraq ) where he fought against the Turks , who used to throw boulders down onto our boys . He did not return home until 1920 by which time my Mother was 2 years old and who he had never seen. My Mother has always said how scared my Granfather was for the rest of his life whenever there was Lightning and Thunder , his mind must immediately have gone back to the hell of the trenches . He finally died in his sleep in his favourite chair in 1968 , aged 80.
So , you can see, my Grandfather was just an ordinary soldier , just like Harry Patch , and millions of others.
If other members of EOS have stories to relate to any conflicts/wars it would be interesting if they would post them on here as I am sure many people would be interested in reading them.
Kind Regards to all ,
Roger Davis
This message was last edited by Roger Davis on 06/08/2009.
Thread:
Reflections of WW1
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