shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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The guns fell silent.
Lest we forget.
God bless 'em all..........
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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grandveneur
.400 member
Reged: 21/09/08
Posts: 1356
Loc: France / Germany
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The end of the First World War ?
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Yes, Today is rememberance Sunday where they have the ceremony at the Cenotaph in London, the 2 minute silence at 1100 hrs UK time and immediatly afterwards the Royal Family, heads of military and state etc, each lay wreaths. After which, the march past of the various organisations, each of whom lay a wreath (usually of poppies) at the cenotaph.
The actual armistice was on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 1918 and tuesday will mark the 90th anniversary.
At the start of the march past, they read the poem 'In Flanders Fields' and usually 'Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep'
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
Edited by shakari (09/11/08 10:39 PM)
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grandveneur
.400 member
Reged: 21/09/08
Posts: 1356
Loc: France / Germany
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In France too, that's a Holiday with ceremony's in many city's.
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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One must remember that it's not only about those who gave their lives, limbs and minds in the First World War, but also in all the other conflicts since then to the present day.
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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Stephen_Palos
.224 member
Reged: 11/10/08
Posts: 40
Loc: South Africa
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This is a very fine post Steve...
And is it not sad to think that man is no wiser after all these years and so many fruitless wars?
Hopefully the world will be a better place by the 100th aniversary
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I hunt because I am human, so hunting is an expression of my humanity.
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Paul
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Reged: 28/08/07
Posts: 1031
Loc: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Well said, men. Let us also remember the mothers of soldiers who die. Apart from the servicemen who return with horrific pain and disabilities, I think they are the greatest victims of war. Mothers of most mammal species will give everything for their offspring including their lives (as sambar hunters noticed after the Victorian 2006-7 fires); for a woman to see the child she suffered to bear, suckled, cleaned up, fed and worried over for two decades die for any reason is a psychic pain approaching the worst that battle can inflict.
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Thanks Stephen.
I agree it's desperately sad to think we've learned so little in the last 90 years and I'd love to think you're right that we might learn from our mistakes, but somehow I have my doubts.............
One of the major problems is that the politicians don't actually have to go war themselves. - If they did, they might think a bit more deeply before sending the troops in to sacrifice themselves on the alter of political arrogance and stupidity.
Two Sides of War (All Wars)
"All wars are planned by older men
In council rooms apart,
Who call for greater armament
And map the battle chart.
But out along the shattered field
Where golden dreams turn gray,
How very young the faces were
Where all the dead men lay.
Portly and solemn in their pride,
The elders cast their vote
For this or that, or something else,
That sounds the martial note.
But where their sightless eyes stare out
Beyond life's vanished toys,
I've noticed nearly all the dead
Were hardly more than boys."
~Grantland Rice
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
Edited by shakari (10/11/08 01:09 AM)
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AspenHill
Sponsor
Reged: 08/01/03
Posts: 1528
Loc: Vermont, USA
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On Tuesday, November 11th, America honors all who served, this is our Veteran's Day. The local paper published rememberance photos from veterans of the past. Several were from people who served during the World Wars, Korea and Vietnam as citizens of other countries but had eventually settled here. I thought that was nice they too were remembered.
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~Ann
Everyday spent outdoors is the best day of my life.
Aspen Hill Adventures
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larcher
.416 member
Reged: 11/01/05
Posts: 2655
Loc: Saverne, Alsace, France
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Tomorrow we'll honor all the dead of the first WW.
Here are
a visit of Verdun, one of the bloodiest battle field, a place where I lived when young.
Verdun
and a poem :
Le dormeur du Val - (Arthur Rimbaud 1854-1891)
C’est un trou de verdure où chante une rivière
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.
*****
Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort ; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pâle dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.
*****
Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme :
Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid.
*****
Les parfums ne font pas frissonner sa narine ;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au côté droit.
and
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"I don't want to create an encyclopedic atmosphere here when we might be having a beer instead" P H Capstick in "Safari the last adventure."
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poprivit
.333 member
Reged: 09/04/07
Posts: 398
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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My grandfather, Lt. D.E. White, flew the last combat mission of WWI. He bombed a German airdrome the night of Nov. 10, 1918. He flew a Handley-Page O-100 two -engine bomber. He, and the other American pilots were written up in a book "The Annals of 100 Squadron" written by Major C. Gordon Burge in 1919. He's listed on page 195. The true story of the flying in that war makes movies like "Flyboys" look like Tinker Bell's birthday party.
Tom Murphy
Gardnerville, NV
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lapua
.333 member
Reged: 15/05/05
Posts: 445
Loc: Australia
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Yes "lets we forget" Amen ... the red poppy the only flower to bloom on the killing field's since the guns fell silent for good.
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Cheers
lapua
ADF VETERAN ARMY
Lest We Forget
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Poprivet,
I can't for the life of me remember where, but I've read about your Grandfather and that operation somewhere. - and it's driving me nucking futs that I can't find it any of my books etc.
It's great that so many people in so many parts of the world mark these occasions so well. I knew France esp took the issue very seriously and the Aussies of course have Anzac day as well.
I don't know about the rest of SA, but here in the Lowveld, I've never even seen anyone wear a poppy, let alone anything else, which I think is a great shame. Esp as SA and surrounding countries also made their fair share of sacrifice.
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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Stephen_Palos
.224 member
Reged: 11/10/08
Posts: 40
Loc: South Africa
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Steve
The poppy wearing and rememberances used to be quite common when I grew up in Johannesburg, but I have not seen a poppy sold for years now.
My old high school, Jeppe Boys in Kensington still holds a service on the 11th November each year and it culminates in the sun shining through a dome at the library at exactly 11am and shing on a plaque with the names of the school's fallen.
The main school's main gates memorials to two fallen, D. Dashwood and F. von Linsingen and the secondary gates are also named for one of the school's fallen teachers, Neville Rankin.
In all there are 35 names on the Roll of Honour for the First World War, and 133 names on the Roll of Honour for the Second World War.(170 staff and old boys lost their lives in the two World Wars and the border conflict)
One hopes these traditions still mean something to the current crop of students?
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I hunt because I am human, so hunting is an expression of my humanity.
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shakari
.400 member
Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa
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Quote:
One hopes these traditions still mean something to the current crop of students?
Stephen,
I'd like to think you're right, but (to say the least) I do have my doubts. 
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Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com
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