I went to church this morning and we kept the 2 minutes silence at 11 am we should never forget and also thoose who are still loosing their life in war
------------- Cuckoo corner nr Hereford 2to 9th September 2017
22nd 23rd September 2017 St Neots
9th 14th October Mablethorpe
Quote: Originally posted by jelboy53 on 11/11/2012
So long ago...But for me as if yesterday....I remember them!!
Jelboy.
These are the words to a tune Jel and I are trying to learn on the moothie. It's called "The Green Fields of France"
.........................................
Well how do you do young Willy Mc Bride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone your were only nineteen
When you joined the great falling in nineteen fifteen
Well I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Or young Willy Mc Bride was it slow and obscene
[Chorus]
Did they beat the drum slowly ,did they sound the fifes lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest.
[2]
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithfull heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in nineteen fifteen
In some faith full heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enshrined forever behind a glass frame
In an old photograph torn battered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame.
[Repeat Chorus]
[3]
Well the sun now it shines on the green fields of France
There's a warm summer breeze it makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the cloudes
There's no gas no barbed wire , there's no gun firing now.
But here in this graveyard it's still no mans land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man's blind indefference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and dammed
[Repeat Chorus]
Well Will Mc Bride I cant help wonder why
Do those that lie here know why did they die
And did they beleive when they ansered the call
Did they really belive that this war would end war
Well the sorrow the suffering the glory the pain
The killing the dying was all done in vain
For young Willy Mc Bride it all happened again
And again,and again,and again,and again
..............................................
My dad was too young to have fought in WWII - but his brother won the MC. His other brother served as a dentist - with a lot of patients being prisioner of war.
I went down to our local Remenberance Service after Church Parade (one child at both).
What a pity we don't get screeming headlines about how many young people in the likes of the Cadets stood for so long on parade and showed their respect, in silence - not only for the two minutes, but for a good while before hand as well.
war achieves nothing, we keep repeatng the mistakes and fail to learn the lessons of the past. It is a waste of time, life and resources. If yuo ever get the chancee to go to Ypres in Belgium do so, it is well worth it. On first sight you think it is a well preserved old city with grand old well preserved buildings. Then go to the museum, there is an aerial photo taken in 1918 which shows the town - not a wall standing. After the war they rebuilt it as it had been and when you look at buildings closely you will see two dates, one when first built, one when rebuilt. Evey night of the year at 8pm the traffic through the city is stopped and the local fire brigade sound the last post under the Menin Gate upon which are the names of thousands of men who had no known graves. I defy you not to feel the emotion and sadness of it all. I have been there a number of times and I always come away feeling humble, thankful and appreciative of the terrible cost of war and pray that it will not happen again.
I have only had the opportunity to visit one war grave and that was Changi in Singapore and I can honestly say I have never known such peace. If a place like that can be beautiful that certainly was.