Military History
I suppose my enduring hobby since quite early Childhood has been Military History of the 20th Century. Some original members may remember the Military quizzes that I used to place on here a few years ago. They proved quite popular.
One of the spin offs of reading Military History has been an appreciation of the sometimes quite beautiful Poems that were written either by or for some of our service people. Two in Particular always bring a lump to my throat.
The First "High Flight" was written by a young Fighter Pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr in the early 40's He died a few weeks after writing it. Today it is well known by aircraft enthusiasts and I recommend that you look it up.
But for me the most emotive is the Poem "The Life that I have" written by a SOE handler for one of his Agents Violette Szabo. Violette Szabo was a French National working as a British Agent in France for the British SOE. The poem became her code signature. She was eventually captured by the Germans tortured and Shot. Her story was related in the post war movie "Carve her name with Pride"
The Poem still makes my eyes smart today.
"The life that I have
is all that I have
and the life that I have is yours.
The love that I have, Of the life that I have, is yours and yours and yours.
A sleep I shall have, A rest I shall have, yet Death will be but a pause.
For the peace my years, in the long green grass, will be yours and yours and yours."
It is too easy to forget the sacrifices of young people like Violette who in her late 20's left her young child in London to go underground in occupied France in an effort to shorten the war.
It is 74 years ago this week, that she left the UK on her first but final mission.
TF
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Quite agree with your sentiments TF, The Verse you refer to was written by Leo Marx of the S O E who wrote it specifically for Violette Szabo, because she was struggling, amazingly, with the French nursery rhyme she was supposed to use ! Anybody with an interest could visit the museum to this brave lady which is in Hereford I believe.
The only point, part of my nit-picking nature, is that I understand it was her Second trip into Occupied France.
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I'm also interested in Military History, mostly anything to do with WW1 and the Regiment which I served in, the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own). I am still attend some old comrades events and participate on their FB page.
Hopefully we will revisit Coburg, the home of Prince Albert, this year
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My main interest at this moment is with the 2nd world war. I have been recently studying the exploits of the 8th Army and their push from North Africa into Italy via Sicily, The Landings and the extreme resistance of the terrain to allow any proper movement of troops and munitions made this campaign very dangerous, especially around the area of Monte Cassino.
K
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Agreed, the push up through Italy from the landings at Anzio were bitterly resisted by the Germans who were literally fighting with their backs to the Wall. After Monte Casino, it grew a little easier and Rome Itself remained a protected City so escaped serious damage.
The whole Italy campaign was a much harder prospect that the Allies expected. The Italians themselves had capitulated very early on, and so it was easy to expect a quick victory as a result. It was not to be!
TF
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A friend of ours, who was Head of History at a local Grammar School, has been researching the lives of the old boys from his school who lost their lives in WW1 and has recently been giving a presentation at the school on the anniversary of their deaths. We photographed one war grave at a cemetery near Thessaloniki in Greece, where one of 'his' old boys was killed, and took photographs. He is very involved in this, and has found some amazing stories of heroism and of every emotion involved in war!
He has done 'active' research, going over to France, and even finding an 'unknown war grave' where one of his 'boys' is thought to have lost their lives being run over by an enemy tank. The site is still being excavated and he'll only know the results when all the official investigations have been done.
I can't remember how many deaths there were in total, but it was a lot and he has done at least one presentations every week since 2014 and more recently even more than that! And he's got a lot more coming up in the next few weeks!
Tragedies every one!
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OH is interested in Military history having served for 45 years in the Army. We have visited many museums and war cemeteries.
The most memorable for me was on Cyprus in the no mans land between the North (Turkish) and the South (Greek) a colleague at work was telling me one day that he had tried in vain to find where his father in law was buried, he knew it was on Cyprus where he had died during the troubles there but not where he was buried.
OH asked for his FIL's details and managed to track him down. We were going on holiday to Cyprus that year (which prompted the conversation) so took a day out to visit. We had to make an appointment to visit as its a restricted area 'The Green Zone' we had an escort by a very well informed RMP around the whole area, the houses still stand as they were when attacked by the Turks. Some still had furniture and children's toys, bikes etc. in the 'garden' houses full of bullet holes still stand, so sad a reminder.
The military cemetery is looked after very well by both Greek and Turkish gardeners, we took flowers for the grave and took photos (the soldier did, we were not allowed to) On our return we were able to tell his daughter all about the visit and give her the photos, something she says she will cherish. The shame is that her mother had died not ever knowing where he was buried.
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It is also important to realise that is was not always members of the Military, - on all sides that died during the war.
Picture if you will a small township in Southern France > It is Sunday morning the 10th June. A fine day, a few boys are playing on the village green Nr the Centre of the village. The Doctor has just made a call and has parked his car near the green whilst he goes home for lunch. Its a typical early summer Sunday. The events playing themselves out in Normandy seem to be a long way away.
Suddenly People become aware that a German patrol have sealed off the Road that leads into the South of the town. Then the Road to the North is sealed too.
German troops crowd into the Village separating the Women from the Men and boys. The Women are forced into the Church and the Men and Boys are separated into three groups and locked in barns in different parts of the town. They remain locked in for some time whilst German soldiers search and ransack all the Houses in the town.
Then in the middle of the afternoon hidden machine guns in the tree barns open up slaughtering all the imprisoned men and Boys! Only 3 boys escape, falling under their dead companions and are not noticed .
At the same time hand grenades are thrown into the Church through doors and windows. One woman alone escapes by throwing herself through a rear window and hiding in the corn growing outside.
Finally all the houses in the town are set on fire. None escape the conflagration.
The Town? Oradour Sur Glane, just a few miles North of Limoges.
The town is still there today, untouched just as it was left by the SS Regiment that evening. Well over 800 men, Women and Children had been slaughtered. The French Govt resolved that Oradour should never be touched except to seal the tops of walls etc so that the ravages of time would not conceal the savagery of it all.
I will never forgot my visit a few years ago. The burnt out houses still with charred furniture inside. Burnt out cars and bicycles in the garages. And perhaps most poignant, almost every house seemed to have a burnt sewing machine somewhere!
But why? No one is quite sure, It was just a few days after the Allies invaded Northern France on D Day, so the German SS Regiment was on its way North to take it place in the battle lines. The French resistance were causing trouble to the Germans and it is believed that the Senior German Officer thought that perhaps Oradour was hiding them. Whatever, - He took a terrible revenge on the Town.
In the event it is thought that his suspicions were wrong and there were no resistance fighters in Oradour anyway.
If you are down that way Do look in on Oradour, I can promise you that you will never forget it!
TF
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