Ghazala Posted 28 August , 2014 Share Posted 28 August , 2014 If in doubt, bring TEL out An excellent mantra Caryl... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 28 August , 2014 Share Posted 28 August , 2014 Is it Fred Tubb, David? P.S. Thanks for the stat`s update. Highly relevant info I feel. Lets people see just how successful that little acorn has become. We are shaking the tree.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdr Posted 28 August , 2014 Share Posted 28 August , 2014 re my last pic. The 16 dragoner was in november 1913 part of X German army corps. This was then under command of the chap next to Albert , general von Emmich. Beter known as the commander of the Army of the Meuse during the 'Handstreich' against Liège where he fought against a Belgian general who took command in Liège also in 1913 and who is the general with the white trousers on the picture ! Small world ! Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Buchan again, this time from 'The King's Grace': "Explosive, erratic, a dangerous enemy, a difficult friend, this 'proud and rebellious creature of God' had the breadth of imagination and the sudden lightning flashes of insight which deserve the name of genius. Behind a smoke screen of rhodomontade, his powerful mind worked on the data of a vast experience. His policy in war might be too bold or too whimsical, but it would never be timorous or supine." Who is he ? ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Is it Churchill UG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Is it Churchill UG? Not Churchill NF, no. Not a politician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Foch? Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Foch? Ron Not Foch. British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Is it Fisher uncle? Sounds like it should be even if it isn't. I also need to go away and look up rhodomontade, never heard of that before; it sounds like one of those theoretical elements out on the whackier extremes of the periodic table. Or maybe a pre Great war non alcoholic beverage made with something radioactive. Pete. Edit: Boastful talk or behaviour. I can't see me working it into many sentences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 Is it Fisher uncle? Sounds like it should be even if it isn't. I also need to go away and look up rhodomontade, never heard of that before; it sounds like one of those theoretical elements out on the whackier extremes of the periodic table. Or maybe a pre Great war non alcoholic beverage made with something radioactive. Pete. Edit: Boastful talk or behaviour. I can't see me working it into many sentences. Yes, Fisher. "Sir John Jellicoe, realising that the British Navy was the main buttress of the Allied armies, was ready for battle, but was resolved not to imperil the future by unwisely seeking it, since without a battle he was able to reap most of the fruits of victory. The cautious Fabian in the north had now his corrective and complement at the Admiralty, for at the close of October Lord Fisher became again First Sea Lord." Rhodomontade. I thought it was some sort of a flan. "Would you care for a slice of raspberry rhodomontade, Sir Douglas?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 29 August , 2014 Share Posted 29 August , 2014 I would have gone for some sort of epic Victorian shrub. "Ah Lady Maud, the rhodomontades have bloomed so early this year." Definitely word of the month here on WIT. However back to the plot and no one has yet got my Aussie VC from #799. Here's a reminder: Considering his nickname and accomplishments, he had a refreshingly honest and down to earth view of courage and heroism. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Love the hilarious alternative definitions for our word of the month. I must remember to ask my gaffers at work if they are at all familiar with the actual meaning of the word. Anyway, we digress........I`ve got him now David. It`s "Harry" Murray. A most interesting V.C. recipient, whom I should have known. I`ll leave you to fill in the details if you don`t mind, as I`m long overdue in hitting the sack. Working 4 nights again, so won`t post anyone yet, but I`ve found some crackers....I promise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Quite right NF, it is indeed 'Mad' Harry Murray VC CMG, DSO and bar, DCM. Moving from Private to Lt. Col. in three years, the extensive library refers to him as the most decorated infantryman in the Great War (British and Empire): hence my surprise that he has not come up before as a WIT. Like so many VC winners he was a very self effacing chap who rarely attended Anzac Days or VC events, living his life on a grazing property in Queensland. However he did come to England for the Centenary of the Victoria Cross and, reading another article about him on the web, I noticed he was asked what it took to be a hero. He said that everyone is frightened on a battlefield and that those who perform what are seen as heroic acts are simply those who have managed to hold their nerve for a few minutes longer than their colleagues. Well if you read his exploits you'll see he hung on to his nerves a good deal more than most! Although nicknamed 'Mad' he seems to have been the antithesis of the recklessly brave, maverick Aussie I was expecting to read about. All the articles I found described him as a tactically adept, calm, quiet, disciplinarian who strongly believed in the virtues of training. Another sidelight on his character was that he took the opportunity of the 1956 visit to tour Europe but refused to visit the battlefields. A very interesting WIT all round David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 I'd never come across him either; but I'm very glad I have, thanks. Just as a postcript to the action for which Harry Murray won the VC, I'm reasonably sure this is the area where he won it. This is taken from the Caribou Memorial just east of Gueudecourt looking north westish towards Ligny-Thilloy. Stormy trench would have run across the centre of the photograph. Although the battle of the Somme officially ended in November 1916 there was still local actions throughout the winter of 1916-17 before the Germans gave up the area in March. I hadn't realised this until I started looking at some of the gravestones in the cemeteries in the area. The legendary Leigh Richmond Roose who has previously featured on WiT? was lost in this area in an attack on Bacon trench the previous October. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 A great write-up guy's, thanks. Super WIT, David. Quite a guy,and long overdue his immortalisation here amongst the great and the good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 This from Beaverbrook's 'Politicians and the War 1914-16': "[His] chief enemy has always been his own biting and witty tongue, which spares no man. He often gives offence in this respect to people whom he really loves and admires. G.H.Q. in France was just about the worst place in the world in which to employ this particular instrument. "I remember myself making what I considered a few harmless jests there - and being astonished at their reception. A major-general became as violent in his fury as though I had been laughing at a funeral. But as a rule I avoided the military hierarchy. "[This man] did not - and was inclined to talk at St. Omer as if he were at the Carlton Club... "But the soldiers treated [him] very foolishly in not making any adequate use of his talents. He has got the best brains of any man among my contemporaries. If all his other qualities matched his intellect he would be the biggest world figure of our time." Who is Beaverbrook describing ? ? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 UG I'll take a kneejerk punt at the old thread friend F E Smith David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 UG I'll take a kneejerk punt at the old thread friend F E Smith David Yes indeed. Max's second paragraph strikes a WiT-related chord. (I fear.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Who might this be. Died on the Western Front in 1915? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Who might this be. Died on the Western Front in 1915? Well, that narrows it down! That's a clue even *I* might have put forth. -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Well, that narrows it down! That's a clue even *I* might have put forth. -Daniel Look deeper Daniel... If SG was still around it would be solved quickly! Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Is he one of TEL's brothers? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Is he one of TEL's brothers? David He is David, and I have the uncomfortable feeling I might have put him up before! Eddie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 He is David, and I have the uncomfortable feeling I might have put him up before! Eddie You did Eddie, and I got him first time as well! Frank Helier Lawrence WIT number 298 David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 You did Eddie, and I got him first time as well! Frank Helier Lawrence WIT number 298 David Good one David... August 1914: volunteered for service in the army and commissioned Second-Lieutenant in the 3rd Gloucesters 9 February 1915: joined the 1st battalion at the front 9 May 1915: killed in action, aged 22, at Richebourg l'Avou, leading his men forward preparatory to the assault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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