Tag Archives: First World War
The Costs of War
Time to take a look back with a post from this date in 2015. I figure you either haven’t read it becasue you weren’t a subscriber back then, or have forgotten it. When we toured the First World War battlefields in the Ypres area of Belgium last summer, the enormity of the human toll was […]
Government Lies
At some point this year I expect we will be discussing the nature of government messaging and its effect on our society and on us as individuals. Perhaps to foreshadow that, here’s a post from January 2015. In our post-modern world Truth seems to have become a relative where it once was an absolute. Perhaps […]
Trench Warfare
Welcome to re-run time. Some of my favorite posts, mostly older and travel related, while I myself am on the road. When I was a pre-teen I was for a while very interested in war stories. Which would explain why in both 2009 and 2014 I visited the Ypres area in Belgium. This post is […]
Ships in the Sky
A little less than a half hour’s walk from our home in Sulzburg, Germany, was a famous nursery. People came from miles around to get their plants and flowers and to eat at the cafe. The place was run by the Zeppelin family. If that name rings a bell, it probably isn’t for things horticultural. […]
Remembrance Day Memories
Today is Remembrance Day, a time to reflect on wars past and those who fought them. As I write this, I haven’t decided if I will be attending the ceremonies in person or watching on television. Originally I thought I would write some new reflections for this day – I have many unused phtoos of […]
At Essex Farm
I listened to the national Remembrance Day ceremonies from Ottawa on the radio this year. Felt strange to be observing a time of silence at 5 p.m. my time instead of the traditional 11 a.m. As always on November 11, I was thinking of my maternal grandfather, who came home from that First World War, […]
Remembrance Day 2020
I’m not sure what the ceremonies in Ottawa will look like today. Normally I would tune in for the 11 a.m. service, and will probably still do so. Here in Germany they don’t remember their war dead on November 11, so I won’t be attending anything locally. Over the years I have taken many pictures […]
The Child Soldier
Continuing our lead-up to remembrance day, a post from November 2014. When we visited the Commonwealth Military Cemetery at Essex Farm, near Ypres, Belgium, our guide pointed out the grave of V.J. Strudwick, who was killed in action January 14, 1916 at age 15. The official age to enlist was 18, for overseas service 19. […]
Time To Remember
I was planning on continuing my commentary on the US election today, then I looked at the calendar. It is almost November 11, Remembrance Day. We who have never experienced war can only dimly understand the sacrifices previous generations paid for our freedom. Today though, and for the next couple of days, some older posts […]
That Unending War
I am reading a book about the First World War that brought some memories of a trip to Belgium in 2014 and this post from September of that year. A century later, it haunts them still. The last Canadian veteran of the First World War died in 2010, and I would imagine that is pretty […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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