neverforget Posted 13 March , 2023 Share Posted 13 March , 2023 I'll resist the temptation to post any further drum puns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 13 March , 2023 Share Posted 13 March , 2023 (edited) Hi Zidane Another gentleman that had very close connections to Australia 😁 Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges, who despite being wounded rallied a couple of battalions at St Quentin during the retreat from Mons using a tin whistle and toy drum. He later lost a leg at Passchendaele. Link below https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bridges Edited 13 March , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 21 hours ago, Knotty said: Hi Zidane Another gentleman that had very close connections to Australia 😁 Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges, who despite being wounded rallied a couple of battalions at St Quentin during the retreat from Mons using a tin whistle and toy drum. He later lost a leg at Passchendaele. Link below https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bridges Surely it must be. Well done John, I didn't have the foggiest with that one. Nice find Zidane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankengine888 Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 21 hours ago, Knotty said: Hi Zidane Another gentleman that had very close connections to Australia 😁 Sir George Tom Molesworth Bridges, who despite being wounded rallied a couple of battalions at St Quentin during the retreat from Mons using a tin whistle and toy drum. He later lost a leg at Passchendaele. Link below https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Bridges I didn't realize you answered it! Yes, Sir Tom Bridges. I actually didn't realize he had connections to Australia! I found out about him by watching 'Mons (1926)' or on youtube 'The Vanished Army' which had a scene with his actions with the tin whistle and toy drum. Here is the scene in question. Anyways, I have another man in mind, but I'll see if anyone submits a person. Zidane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 I have one to offer. Has a unique distinction, and also a very chequered and covert pre war history. Had this been known he would at the very least never been allowed to embark on what became an illustrious military career. In fact he would most likely have been shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 No takers? Perhaps a little pictorial assistance then.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie962 Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 Riddle of the sands!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 6 minutes ago, charlie962 said: Riddle of the sands!! Indeed, and therein lies a connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 15 minutes ago, neverforget said: Indeed, and therein lies a connection. So is it Erskine Childers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 Sorry Steve didn’t check to see if there was a new WIT Based on your pictorial representation and Charlie962 could it be Erskine Childers perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 1 minute ago, Uncle George said: So is it Erskine Childers? 1 minute ago, Knotty said: Sorry Steve didn’t check to see if there was a new WIT Based on your pictorial representation and Charlie962 could it be Erskine Childers perhaps? Not Childers, but a very strong connection, both to him and his book. He was arrested on suspicion of spying, but released. All of the above before the outbreak of war, during which he gained his regrettable distinction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 17 minutes ago, neverforget said: Not Childers, but a very strong connection, both to him and his book. He was arrested on suspicion of spying, but released. All of the above before the outbreak of war, during which he gained his regrettable distinction. David Lubbock Robinson ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Uncle George said: David Lubbock Robinson ? No. My man was born a lot further away. A lot further. He was instrumental in making sure that the British Army maintained their retreat from Mons, which was something he was able to do because of his observations. Sadly he didn't survive the war, and is buried some 5 miles west of Bethune in the Pas de Calais. Edited 14 March , 2023 by neverforget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 (edited) Brigadier General Gordon Strachey Shephard? (friend of Erskine and highest ranked officer of RFC/RAF killed on active service) Update…. he landed munitions to the Irish Volunteers in July 14 using Erskine yacht Edited 14 March , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 14 March , 2023 Share Posted 14 March , 2023 (edited) Yes John, well played. In July 1914, he used his skills as a yachtsman to surreptitiously assist his friend Erskine Childers in landing a consignment of weaponry at Howth aboard Childers' yacht, The Asgard, on behalf of the Irish Volunteers, an action which, had it become known, would have resulted in, at a minimum, the termination of Shephard's military career, if not far more drastic punishment. When it was proposed to smuggle a consignment of 1,500 German guns into Ireland aboard two yachts – Erskine and Molly Childers’ Asgard and the Kelpie under Conor O’Brien – in response to the importation into the north in April 1914 of 24,000 German guns by the anti–Home Rule Ulster Volunteer Force, Gordon was very much involved. Gordon – who insisted on being called by the alias ‘Mr Gordon’ during the trip –played a key role in the actual landing of the guns at Howth (Dublin Bay). He was one of the few who knew the details of Childers’ berthing plans. His covert operations came to an abrupt halt when he and a companion were briefly detained by the German authorities at Emden, after they were seen taking photographs in a sensitive area. He was widely believed to have been the main character (Caruthers) in Erskine's Riddle of the sands. He was the highest-ranking officer of the flying services to be killed in a theatre of war in the First World War, and was buried in the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, in the Pas de Calais, France. https://www.westernfrontassociation.com/on-this-day/19-january-1918-brigadier-general-gordon-strachey-shephard/ Edited 14 March , 2023 by neverforget Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ridgus Posted 15 March , 2023 Share Posted 15 March , 2023 Another fascinating read, thank you Steve. I absolutely loved ‘Riddle of the Sands’ when I read it as a boy. Read it again a few years ago and really enjoyed it again. A cut above most of the pre-war ‘invasion scare’ fiction. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 15 March , 2023 Share Posted 15 March , 2023 17 minutes ago, David Ridgus said: Another fascinating read, thank you Steve. I absolutely loved ‘Riddle of the Sands’ when I read it as a boy. Read it again a few years ago and really enjoyed it again. A cut above most of the pre-war ‘invasion scare’ fiction. David Yes, quite a character. A bit of an adrenaline junkie I'd wager. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 15 March , 2023 Share Posted 15 March , 2023 Right it’s late so I will leave you with this WIT also a first, back on the case tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 (edited) No overnight takers so a clue to start the day, he was rejected by the army. Edited 16 March , 2023 by Knotty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tankengine888 Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 The French Sergeant York I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 It is indeed, let’s see if the others spot him👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverforget Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 Interesting looking chap. I'm hopeless with uniforms but the cap looks a bit French to me. Some sort of partisan perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knotty Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 40 minutes ago, neverforget said: Interesting looking chap. I'm hopeless with uniforms but the cap looks a bit French to me. Some sort of partisan perhaps? French yes, partisan no, part of the regulars, think hills😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle George Posted 16 March , 2023 Share Posted 16 March , 2023 Albert Severin Roche, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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