Tag Archives: WWI
So Young!
With Remembrance Day on Saturday, I am reposting some of my thoughts from a visit to Europe in 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 […]
The Famous Poem
“In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place,” – John McCrae In the days leading up to Remembrance Day, I am reposting some past thoughts on war that were stirred up by visits to European battlefields. The names of the battlefields are different, but nothing else seems to have […]
It Isn’t Over Yet
This Saturday we will pause to remember Canada’s war dead. As we lead up to this time I am reposting some of my earlier reflections on war and the battlefields. This one is from September 2014. A century later, it haunts them still. The last Canadian veteran of the First World War died in 2010, […]
The Other Side
In this week leading up to Remembrance Day I am reposting some of my pieces on past wars. Today a visit to a wartime cemetery, on I had never heard of before. We know our own history. We don’t always think of others’. This was one of the very first posts here, from September 2014. […]
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 […]
Remembering in 2022
I took time today to remember those Canadians who fought and died for democracy. Two minutes of silence at 11 a.m.isn’t much, but it is gesture with huge symbolic meaning. That sadly seems less fashionable as the years go by. Earlier this week I was walking on the campus of the Royal Military College in […]
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 […]
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 […]
random thoughts from lorne 
Recent Comments