Uncle George Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 One more from Buchan: "His character has been a quarry for the analysts and I would not add to their number. It is simplest to say that he was a mixture of contradictories which never were—perhaps could never have been—harmonised. His qualities lacked integration. He had moods of vanity and moods of abasement; immense self-confidence and immense diffidence. He had a fastidious taste which was often faulty. The gentlest and most lovable of beings with his chivalry and considerateness, he could also be ruthless." Who is it ? ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 Hmm! No idea on this one UG. Is he a General? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 One more from Buchan: "His character has been a quarry for the analysts and I would not add to their number. It is simplest to say that he was a mixture of contradictories which never were—perhaps could never have been—harmonised. His qualities lacked integration. He had moods of vanity and moods of abasement; immense self-confidence and immense diffidence. He had a fastidious taste which was often faulty. The gentlest and most lovable of beings with his chivalry and considerateness, he could also be ruthless." Who is it ? ? ? Is it by any chance TEL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 Hmm! No idea on this one UG. Is he a General? David Is it by any chance TEL? TEL it is. It was only a matter of time. Buchan continues: "I am not a very tractable person or much of a hero-worshipper, but I could have followed Lawrence over the edge of the world. I loved him for himself, and also because there seemed to be reborn in him all the lost friends of my youth. If genius be, in Emerson's phrase, a 'stellar and undiminishable something,' whose origin is a mystery and whose essence cannot be defined, then he was the only man of genius I have ever known." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 A pure guess UG. Certainly sounded like him and his various contradictions of character. A bit like Marmite our TEL wasn't he. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 A pure guess UG. Certainly sounded like him and his various contradictions of character. A bit like Marmite our TEL wasn't he. And let's face it Caryl, on this thread TEL is always worth a punt! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 A pure guess UG. Certainly sounded like him and his various contradictions of character. A bit like Marmite our TEL wasn't he. A final quote from Buchan (for today anyway), again about TEL, would seem to have some connection to your thoughts: "His fame will endure, and as time goes on the world may understand him better; as he wrote of Thomas Hardy, 'a generation will pass before the sky will be perfectly clear of clouds for his shining.' " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 TEL it is. It was only a matter of time. Buchan continues: "I am not a very tractable person or much of a hero-worshipper, but I could have followed Lawrence over the edge of the world. I loved him for himself, and also because there seemed to be reborn in him all the lost friends of my youth. If genius be, in Emerson's phrase, a 'stellar and undiminishable something,' whose origin is a mystery and whose essence cannot be defined, then he was the only man of genius I have ever known." This is good stuff UG, keep it up.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 26 August , 2014 Share Posted 26 August , 2014 I am confused.. Why did we move back to 'Other' after our banishment to 'Chit Chat'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdr Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 re 737 there are 3 officers with links to Belgium on that picture, only one wears a Belgian uniform ...... Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 I am confused.. Why did we move back to 'Other' after our banishment to 'Chit Chat'? Eddie Caryl successfully petitioned the Mods on the grounds that Others gave access to those who were not members of the Forum David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 re 737 there are 3 officers with links to Belgium on that picture, only one wears a Belgian uniform ...... Carl Carl So was NF right and this thread's old friend King Albert is in the picture somewhere? I know he visited Berlin in 1913 but I thought that was just to get an earful of veiled threats from the Kaiser and von Moltke. Can't really imagine him donning a German uniform and watching manoeuvres but to be honest, and apologies for the cliche, I'm running out of famous Belgians David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 Okay folks the last couple of days is not going down as our finest hour. A few excellent UG WAIWAs apart, we have failed to solve just about anything! By my reckoning then we still have outstanding: My WAIWA: the 'handsome and trim' enemy commanderNF's artist/teacher who served in the Fusiliers and the artilleryCarl's (presumably?) Belgian bigwig at the 1913 German Army manoeuvresAny offers/clues? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 Eddie Caryl successfully petitioned the Mods on the grounds that Others gave access to those who were not members of the Forum David Ahh, I see. Well done Caryl. Back where we started then. TEL would be amused I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 Another fascinating couple of pages, gents. Can I try you with another painting???pic.jpg I think it's Louis John Ginnett. He wasn't an official war artist but made sketches at the front. He grew up in Brighton where his father owned a circus. Louis Ginnett was part of the Ditchling artistic community and taught at the Brighton School of Art for many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 A WAIWA from Kate Caffrey's great book, Farewell Leicester Square 'Reputedly the handsomest of commanders ....... was approaching his fifty-third birthday. Trim, confident and capable, he was about to embark on a command he would hold for nearly two years: the span of life left to his predecessor' David David is it Falkenhayn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 I think it's Louis John Ginnett. He wasn't an official war artist but made sketches at the front. He grew up in Brighton where his father owned a circus. Louis Ginnett was part of the Ditchling artistic community and taught at the Brighton School of Art for many years. As ever, helpjpl has nailed it. Ginnet it is "innet". http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/louis-ginnett/paintings/slideshow No surprise about my wrong guesses concerning David`s and Carl`s subjects though. I think I`ll lose the crowns, and persist with the search, no doubt turning up some more ludicrous suggestions along the way. I`m also loving the samples of Buchan`s literacy, which is a delight to read, though I`m not doing very well with those either. Oh well, the thrill of the chase and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 As ever, helpjpl has nailed it. Ginnet it is "innet". http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/louis-ginnett/paintings/slideshow No surprise about my wrong guesses concerning David`s and Carl`s subjects though. I think I`ll lose the crowns, and persist with the search, no doubt turning up some more ludicrous suggestions along the way. I`m also loving the samples of Buchan`s literacy, which is a delight to read, though I`m not doing very well with those either. Oh well, the thrill of the chase and all that. Kudos to helpjcl for another fine spot; I'd never come across Ginnet before. Good post. I'd love to know if the painting shows a real viewpoint or is an impression of the battlefield; I'm always intrigued by paintings as opposed to photos of the front and the way the artist changes the perspective. I'm thinking of the painting of the Lone Tree at Loos which appears to make Hill 70 look a bit like the Vimy Ridge or Notre Dame de Lorette. I'm sure it's no consolation whatsoever but I'm also completely stumped by all of the recent posts. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 As ever, helpjpl has nailed it. Ginnet it is "innet". http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/louis-ginnett/paintings/slideshow I`m also loving the samples of Buchan`s literacy, which is a delight to read, t. "I shall never forget my first visit to the country, to Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, in April 1919. In the early years of the War natural beauty had been to me a forbidden fruit. I was in the Salient during the second battle of Ypres, and the scent of hawthorn and lilac battling with the stink of poison-gas, and bird-song in the coverts heard in the pauses of the great guns, seemed to underline grimly the indifference of nature to human ills. I remember a June morning, too, in the Chilterns, the beauty of which seemed to me only a savage irony. Experiences in France, which at another time would have entranced me - flaming Picardy sunsets, fresh windy dawns, little towns dumb with snow under the winter moon - were things to which I had no title. I acquired a saner temper when my duties brought me back to England, but I still felt a brittleness in life and a profound insecurity, a sense that the treasures of the past and the joys of the natural world had become 'too dear for my possessing.' I walked warily, as if the ground under me were mined ... [O]n that April journey I recovered the past, and with it hope for the future. The War after all was only what Henry James called it, a 'great interruption.' I was almost back in Keats's Chamber of Maiden Thought. I felt like a man recovering from a fever, or like the mediaeval poet who, going into the fields after his frozen winter's vigil, abased himself before the miracle of spring. 'Tears Are in his eyes, and in his ears The murmur of a thousand years.' " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 Sir John French is describing a young staff officer: "I have a most vivid and grateful recollection of the invaluable services performed by this intrepid young officer. He is possessed of an extremely acute perception, and is able to express himself and deliver his reports in the clearest and most concise terms. He was always exact and accurate, and never failed to bring me back the information I most particularly wanted. I seldom knew him at fault...His unfailing tact, judgment and resource were very marked. His reckless, daring courage often made me anxious for his safety, and, indeed, he was severely wounded on at least five separate occasions." Who is he ? ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 (edited) Kudos to helpjcl for another fine spot; I'd never come across Ginnet before. Good post. I'd love to know if the painting shows a real viewpoint or is an impression of the battlefield; I'm always intrigued by paintings as opposed to photos of the front and the way the artist changes the perspective. I'm thinking of the painting of the Lone Tree at Loos which appears to make Hill 70 look a bit like the Vimy Ridge or Notre Dame de Lorette. I'm sure it's no consolation whatsoever but I'm also completely stumped by all of the recent posts. Pete. Ginnett was given permission to make his sketches while off duty and 'Ypres Salient, Dawn, February 1918' was painted between 1919-1920 from sketches made on Passchendaele Ridge. His sketches of 'Grand Place, Ypres' and 'Interior of Robecq Church' are included in The War Depicted by Distinguished British Artists, edited by Charles Holme. Full text online. Edited 27 August , 2014 by helpjpl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 Sir John French is describing a young staff officer: "I have a most vivid and grateful recollection of the invaluable services performed by this intrepid young officer. He is possessed of an extremely acute perception, and is able to express himself and deliver his reports in the clearest and most concise terms. He was always exact and accurate, and never failed to bring me back the information I most particularly wanted. I seldom knew him at fault...His unfailing tact, judgment and resource were very marked. His reckless, daring courage often made me anxious for his safety, and, indeed, he was severely wounded on at least five separate occasions." Who is he ? ? ? This could well be Captain Spears? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 This could well be Captain Spears? Spears it is. Though 'Spiers' would be strictly accurate, I believe. He changed it in 1918, it seems. French: "I remember well his coming back to report to me late one evening. He spoke with his usual confidence and decision, and the information which he gave me proved to be very important and accurate, but I noticed that his voice was weak and he looked very tired and worn in the face. I sent him away to his quarters as quickly as possible, thinking he wanted rest. All this time he had a bullet in his side, and in that condition he had travelled back several miles to make his report. He fainted after leaving my room, and lay in considerable danger for several days." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdr Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 NF is right. The tall man in the pale uniform is indeed King Albert of the Belgians. He was 'chef' of the 16th Dragoner (2nd Hannoverians). His uniform here is shown in the Great War exhibition in the Brussels Army museum. He was also 'chef' of the 27th Austro Hungarian Infantry regiment 'King of the Belgians' The German officer partly hidden by King Albert encountered the Belgian officer the following year... Their names are mentioned in Tuchmann...... Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 27 August , 2014 Share Posted 27 August , 2014 (edited) NF is right. The tall man in the pale uniform is indeed King Albert of the Belgians. He was 'chef' of the 16th Dragoner Well, I never! For once, one of my hunches came good. Quite pleased with that one, and also delighted that I appear to have one or two memory cells still working. Had no idea that King Albert could cook though....... . Thanks for the extra bit of Buchan, UG. I have been prompted by your posts to investigate more of his works. While we wait to see if David`s man is still outstanding, I thought I`d try you with this fellow. One clue to start with: Poet. EDIT> O.k. That`s a really stingy clue. His most well known poem is one that he penned for the Kaiser. Edited 27 August , 2014 by neverforget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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