Probably my favorite poem of that time. If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England. There shall be In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware, Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam; A body of England’s, breathing English air, Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home. And think, this heart, all evil shed away, A pulse in the eternal mind, no less Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given; Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day; And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness, In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
https://bsky.app/profile/chriso-wiki.bsky.social/post/3m56rvvqicn2h Remembering all who gave so much.
Settled for watching the event from Whitehall as our local church is somewhat unwelcoming. The was an interesting piece in it on pipers, which brought this home even more. When I leave this world behind me To another, I will go And if there are no pipes in heaven I'll be going down below If friends in time be severed Someday we will meet again I'll return to leave you never Be a piper to the end This has been a day to die for Now the day is almost done Up above, a quiet seabird Turns to face the setting sun Now the evening dove is calling And all the hills are burning red And before the night comes falling Clouds are lined with golden thread We watched the fires together Shared our quarters for a while Walked the dusty roads together Came so many miles This has been a day to die on Now the day is almost done Here the pipes, will lay beside me Silent with the battle drum If friends in time be servered Someday here we will meet again I'll return to leave you never Be a piper to the end They are the lyrics to "Piper To The End" by Mark Knopfler, written about his uncle Freddie, who died in 1940 at Ficheaux, near Arras in Northern France, aged 20. Freddie was a piper in the 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish, The Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment. Pipers were apparently unarmed, and around half of the pipers that lead their regiments into battle paid the ultimate price.
Armistice day with a difference this year as we are out in France. Bluets instead of poppies and La Marseillaise instead of the Last Post but still very moving and reflective. Our small village lost 41 men in WW1, three from the same family.
I was on race duty at my sailing club on Remembrance Sunday. It is traditional to observe the 2 minutes silence before the race at 11.00 am. This year I thought I'd add a bit to it by playing the last post out on the lake through a loudspeaker immediately before the 2 minutes silence, followed by the reville before starting the race. It went down well with the sailors waiting to start the race.
It’s astonishing what you can still learn. It’s estimated over a billion shells were fired on french soil in WW1. There are still some areas off limits because of potential unexploded bombs and the french still have a full time team of disposal experts for WW1. They reckon it will take at least another 100 years before they stop finding unexploded devices. Utter madness of it all beggars belief.
There are many places along the western front fenced off because of undiscovered munitions. Vimy Ridge is one such place and we'll worth a visit
Two of the current ordnance disposal team were killed in France not long ago when a shell exploded as they moved it.
