Tag Archives: First World War
In The Trenches
Today we start a countdown of sorts, republishing the top ten most popular posts here in 2019. Of those only two are actually from that year. This one, though the tenth most popular in 2019 is actually the most viewed post of all-time here. The years between 1914 and 1918 were the wettest Europe experienced […]
A Newer Ruin
In a land where the ruins can be a couple of thousand years old, a 20th century relic doesn’t stands out. This German pillbox, part of the World War Two coastal defence system, is on the edges of Monterosso al Mare, one of the villages of Italy’s Cinque Terre region. It serves as a […]
Remembrance Day 2019
Canada remembers its war dead today, as it does every November 11th. It was on this date in 1918 that the “Great War,” the “War To End All Wars” came to an end. Today we know that the First World War was just the beginning. Most years of the 20th century saw war being […]
The Other Side
Remembrance Day is tomorrow – in Canada anyway. When we moved to Germany I was surprised to discover that Germans don’t remember their war dead on November 11. Germans will take time to remember next Sunday. Growing up as a Canadian I never thought much about the casualties on the other side. Which made […]
An Act of Remembrance
As much of the world celebrates Remembrance Day on Monday, I am re-posting some of my earlier thoughts on the subject. Today’s post comes from 2016. I only know her name, nothing else about her. And where she lived in 1916, a place that I had never heard of before, Manor, Saskatchewan. By 1921 she […]
Tonight At Menin Gate
It is Flashback Friday, with a post from five years ago. Today seemed like a good time to provide a reminder of the Great War. Tonight at 8, for the 29,758th time (31,583rd time in 2019), the Last Post, the traditional salute to fallen warriors, will be played at the Menin gate in Ypres. It’s […]
An Anniversary Somewhat Forgotten
It ended seventy-nine years ago today, though they probably didn’t know it was the last day. They expected the bombers back to continue the Battle of Britain. As they had every day since July 10, 1940, Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, had bombed British targets. Unprepared for war, the few fighter pilots of the […]
Still Brooding
A flashback for this Monday morning, a post originally published in October 2014. One of the highlights of the Belgian leg of our tour of Europe was the Brooding Soldier at St. Julien. After Vimy Ridge this may be the biggest, best known, Canadian war memorial in Europe. It is a poignant site, a […]
Remembrance Day 2018
One hundred years ago today the guns fell silent. Back then they called it “The War To End All Wars.” It wasn’t. Now it is a name and number: World War One. Millions more would die in armed conflict over the next hundred years and continue to die today in smaller conflicts around the globe. […]
Playing The Last Post
With the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War coming up this Sunday, I thought I would revisit some older posts related to that conflict. This one was published on November 10, 2014. It has been four years – tonight is actually the 31,220th time the ceremony has taken place. Tonight […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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