SteveMarsdin Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Very honourable Mr B, Whilst someone else gets it, here's a Parisian bus queue from 1922 to amuse you ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Welsh poet Hedd Wynn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 No Simon, not Hedd Wynn. This chap won an MC and is the only person I am aware of who has both been put forward for a VC and suggested for sainthood ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Ah...Fr Willie Doyle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 That's the man. The subject of Carole Hope's book "Worshipper and Worshipped" and more general background here: http://fatherdoyle.com/. As a Chaplain he was able to move around the lines and his letters give a fascinating insight into the battlefield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon_Fielding Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 One of my War Memorial casuaities was kia 5/8/17 serving with the 8th Inniskillings....Doyle described that sector of Ypres in his diary: All the time we were pushing on steadily. Suddenly the storm burst. The enemy's guns had opened fire with a crash. I can but describe the din by asking you to start together fifty first-class thunder-storms. On we hurried, when right before us the Hun started to put down a heavy barrage, literally a curtain of shells. In the darkness I stumbled across a huge shell-hole crater. Into it we rolled and lay on our faces while shells burst on every side. We reached Headquarters, a strong blockhouse made of concrete and iron rails, a masterpiece of German cleverness. From time to time, all during the night, the enemy gunners kept firing at our shelter, having the range to a nicety. Scores exploded within a few feet of it, shaking us till our bones rattled, and one burst near the entrance, nearly blowing us over, but doing no harm, thanks to the scientific construction of the passage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 I thought it was Fabian Ware so Googled. Now I know who it is, but I cheated so will step aside. There are not many honest people like you around Steve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Fayolle? Quite right Mr B, Fayolle it is. David Edit: Whoops sorry, been out all day (daughters with Top Shop vouchers burning holes in their pockets) so missed that this had already been confirmed. re Mr Marsdin's brilliant bus queue - do you think French Generals ever thought to themselves, "Blimey we all do look rather alike don't we?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Who are these adversaries? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Falkenhayn and ???? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 ...General Gerard Leman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Homer nods! It is not Falkenhayn Mike ...but it is Leman, UG David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 Leman's adversary at Liege was von Emmich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 That's the chap. General von Emmich refused to accept General Leman's sword after his surrender on the grounds that "it had been an honour to cross swords with him" An exchange and a gesture that seem (it's cliché time) redolent of a former age. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 30 December , 2014 Share Posted 30 December , 2014 I'm working on the high ranking bus queue (and the location, I think it might be be in behind Les Invalides), but in the meantime this gentleman has recently been a bit topical due to a letter to her indoors. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 In the front row of the Parisian bus queue, I think that second from right is Foch, and second from left is de Castelnau. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 The photo caption only lists the front four, who were all Maréchaux of France, so please don't expect conclusive verification of them all !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 The photo caption only lists the front four, who were all Maréchals of France, so please don't expect conclusive verification of them all !!! Ironically enough (considering my normal reaction to pictures of French Generals) I don't think Robert Nivelle is in this picture! I wonder if that is Berthelot behind Foch's left shoulder Do you know what the occasion was in 1922 that saw such a collection of top brass Steve?. I wondered if it might be a funeral or a dedication. A cursory glance at famous Frenchmen who died in 1922 produced only the serial killer Henri Landru and Marcel Proust, neither of whom were likely to have warranted full military honours! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 Hi David, It's a photo I found on the French Gallica website when I was searching for images. I am reliant on their captioning and they describe it as Armistice Day 1922. Petain isn't on the photo and yes, it may well be Berthelot but I can't confirm it as they only name the four Maréchaux at the front. On a more topical note here are two of those four, arriving with another Maréchal at a New Year's bash at the Elysée: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 Steve Armistice Day makes complete sense of course. interesting that Joffre doesn't appear to be in either picture David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 Oh but he is David, the first one, albeit he is looking rather slim. The four Maréchaux in the first photo are (l-r) Franchet d-Esperey, Joffre, Foch and Fayolle; the three in the second photo are Foch, Fayolle and Petain. Who is this General ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 this gentleman has recently been a bit topical due to a letter to her indoors. Pete. Hi Pete, It's Congreve, Senior. He commented about the truce and not venturing out himself thinking they might take a pot-shot at a general (or something like that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 Oh but he is David, the first one, albeit he is looking rather slim. Well goodness me, I see it now. Nothing like the portly chap waddling about on the station platform in the 1914 newsreel. Perhaps he had curtailed his legendary lunches by 1922!! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Clifton Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 I thought it might be Joffre, in a slimmed-down version! Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 31 December , 2014 Share Posted 31 December , 2014 Hi Pete, It's Congreve, Senior. He commented about the truce and not venturing out himself thinking they might take a pot-shot at a general (or something like that) Steve, spot on again. The most senior man to mention a hearsay report of football being played on Christmas Day 1914. Won the VC at Colenso in South Africa, lost a son in 1916 (Billy winning the VC in the process) and his hand to shellfire in 1917. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now