Remembering 100 Years

[Galant]

TLDR:

As most of us are aware, this year will mark the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War One, AKA, 'The Great War' - the 'War to End All Wars'. It was the worst conflict ever to occur in human history, sadly surpassed by the second World War later on in the bloodiest century in history. The 20th century had a lot going for it, but also provided some of the darkest stains to mark the human race.

This year, as every year, the call goes out for everyone to never forget what happened, and this year marking the centenary we are doubly reminded to look back and consider the past, as well as the present. I thought it would be good for us to find a place to remember here collectively, that we might not forget, but rather reflect, and learn. Some of us may approach this more as a philosophical consideration, something to ponder in principle. Others of us will feel this much more personally with a profound sense of connection. I'd personally like to hear what I suspect several of you have to share and teach. So I was hoping that we could have a thread where we can post things to help us to do that. It could be poems, articles, images, stories, links and resources... this is a wide and profound subject touching every aspect of human life - the emotional, intellectual, spiritual and societal.

IMPORTANT - I think it would be best, and in the spirit of remembrance, to approach this thread with an attitude of learning and consideration. This should be no place for insults, inconsiderate attitudes or personal back and forth, or side-tracking by going off on current political events. There are others places to discuss those issues, and if possible I'd ask the mods and admins to help keep us on track with this if anything becomes an issue by keeping the focus here on point and curating this a bit more tightly than normal, perhaps. We don't have to agree with one another on 100% of things in order to respect one another and learn from one another. We simply need mutual respect and a desire to remember. Hopefully, nothing more needs to be said.

With all that said, I'm looking forward to sharing a short moment with you guys where I can learn and reflect, and consider, in all aspects, some of the biggest, heaviest times in history. It's important. Lest we forget.




------------------

Original OP:

As most of us are aware, this year will mark the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1, aka, The Great War. It was the worst conflict ever to occur in human history, sadly surpassed by the second World War later on in the bloodiest century in history. The 20th century had a lot going for it, but also provided some of the darkest stains to mark the human race.

This year, as every year, the call goes out for everyone to never forget what happened, and this year marking the centenary we are doubly reminded to look back and consider the past, as well as the present.

The last surviving veterans of World War One died only a few years ago, and I think it's poignant to consider that while one hundred years seems like a long, long time, there are people alive today who were directly affected by those events. Family members lost, lives affected. The reality is that as fast as things seem to move today, those dark days of a 100 years ago and more are not too far away, they are closer than many of us remember - not to mention how those events have shaped the world around us today.

I'm posting this because I think it's appropriate - no, even vital - that everyone take time to reflect on what has happened in our times, in recent history, how it happened, what it meant, from the macro to the micro, and what we might need to learn for ourselves from all that took place. For those of us young enough that those events seem distant and hard to remember, it will mean that we need help to remember - to look, read, and listen, that we might learn.

Every society on earth has always valued legacy and inheritance, the passing down of life and gain from one generation to the next. In our times, especially in the West, we now primarily think of this in terms of wealth, and usually only as a family matter. However, the reality is that we have received a legacy from the past, and our present reality stands upon the shoulders of those who lived and built before us - both for good and for bad. It is a good and wise thing to consider what we receive from our antecedents and to take that and build upon it.

Here at Hexus there is a wealth of knowledge and experience, spanning generations, cultures, and expertise. The contributions here are generally consistently better than any I've found in the other forums I frequent. The people here are generally thoughtful. I thought it would be good for us to find a place to remember here collectively, that we might not forget, but rather reflect, and learn. I'd personally like to hear what I suspect several of you have to share and teach. So I was hoping that we could have a thread where we can post things to help us to do that.

A couple of ground-rules though - we're considering some of the heaviest, darkest events ever to occur, and that occurred within recent memory. Those were events that have touched countless individual lives as well has having shaped history and society. Many people have very strong and personal feelings about these events and I think it should go without saying that everyone is mindful of that. For some, this is a time to reflect on the many noble acts and selfless sacrifices of so many people, a place to find inspiration to courage and valour and courtesy. For others, it's primarily a moment for reflection on the weighty responsibility of society and governments as concerns war and politics. Some of us may approach this more as a philosophical consideration, something to ponder in principle. Others of us will feel this much more personally with a profound sense of connection. Some will remember in silence, by themselves, others will march, or visit memorials. Similarly, some might want to share here, others might simply want to read. It could poems, articles, images, stories, links and resources... this is a wide and profound subject touching every aspect of human life - the emotional, intellectual, spiritual and societal. I think it would be a shame set against the very purpose of remembering for any of us to forget this reality and not treat with consideration the ones around us now, with whom we're remembering. So this should be no place for insults, inconsiderate attitudes or personal back and forth, or side-tracking by going off on current political events. There are others places to discuss those issues, and if possible I'd ask the mods and admins to help keep us on track with this if anything becomes an issue by keeping the focus here on point and curating this a bit more tightly than normal, perhaps.

I think it would be best, and in the spirit of remembrance, to approach this thread with an attitude of learning and consideration. We don't have to agree with one another on 100% of things in order to respect one another and learn from one another. We simply need mutual respect and a desire to remember. Hopefully, nothing more needs to be said.

With all that said, I'm looking forward to sharing a short moment with you guys where I can learn and reflect, and consider, in all aspects, some of the biggest, heaviest times in history. It's important. Lest we forget.

Can we do that? Mods - I'll leave this open to your input and judgement. I just thought it would be good for Hexus to mark this centenary with remembrance due the moment.

Regards.

[Galant]

World War One Color Photos


World War One In Photos - The Atlantic


Tom Marshall - Colourized Photos via The Metro



And a story from the BBC - Grandfather spotted in WW1 Photo - worth a read:

"Looking through a school book about World War One, former teacher Kathryn Robyns was surprised to see her grandfather among the images from 1917.

William Ensor did not talk much about his service but he featured in photos which became iconic among war records.

He was a stretcher bearer seen with others carrying an injured soldier over the mud at the Battle of Passchendaele.

"My grandfather was a hero to us - not because of his service but because he was extraordinarily kind," she said...." Full story in link above.

[Zak33]

Here at HEXUS there is a wealth of knowledge and experience, spanning generations, cultures, and expertise. .....l. I thought it would be good for us to find a place to remember here collectively, that we might not forget, but rather reflect, and learn. I'd personally like to hear what I suspect several of you have to share and teach. So I was hoping that we could have a thread where we can post things to help us to do that.

...and if possible I'd ask the mods and admins to help keep us on track with this if anything becomes an issue by keeping the focus here on point and curating this a bit more tightly than normal, perhaps.

Can we do that? Mods - I'll leave this open to your input and judgement. I just thought it would be good for Hexus to mark this centenary with remembrance due the moment.

Regards.

YES, you can. I whole heartedly agree.

I suggest it is a new, fresh thread with a very short, concise opening post. People who visit here don't all read all of the post before commenting.

[Galant]

I'll just edit the OP, if that's okay. If not let me know.


---OP Edited with a TLDR---

[Zak33]

I shall attempt to start this, though I humbly suggest my input is but a very small part of the combined mental strength of the HEXUS forums:

When I walk through muddy fields, and through driving rain, as oft I do, with my shotgun over my arm for a few hours, looking for dinner to land in a tree- I get to go home afterwards. I go indoors, and I eat and sleep in the dry, safely.

I've never had to spend days, weeks or months in a freezing trench, knee deep in filthy water, stained with the blood of my mates.
It's a very hard thing to define, or even grasp. It's nigh on impossible to believe that a world of sub zero temperatures, with humans literally rotting in their own boots, flea bitten and drenched ever existed.

And that takes not into account the shelling - the permanent pounding of the guns, the eternal danger of even standing up.
Or the gas.....

Imagine living here - not just visiting it... living here, and trying to defend it...


Imagine trying to fight to WIN IT.... what is there to win? Mud and rain and death...
I for one, will always remember them.

[philehidiot]

The above photo of no man's land is why in basic training, you'll spend 20 hours bulling boots, getting your bed perfect, ensuring your kit is ironed and crease free, polishing your belts and you'll go to bed at 0530. You'll be awake at 0630 and by 0730 your sergeant will ask you nicely to open the window and spend the rest of the morning testing just how aerodynamic all your boots have become with all that polish.

They're toughening you up to deal with this. Show you that you can put in all the effort in the world, make everything perfect and that you may still lose but you still have to get over it, get on and start again.

This experience of how tough life can be and how to plough through it is why the slow death of the generation who fought in both these wars is a serious detriment to our society. It's also one of the reasons I spend as much time as I can spare (and often more) listening to these people when they're my patients as there's a damn fine chance I'll learn something as well as be able to pass on their stories.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Nvm.

[rob4001]

I wonder if the University of Southampton Students union president will be remembering it

[Phage]

My father was the first male to make it past 33.

My Great Grandfather lived in Gravesend and was an engineer aboard the HMS Arethusa. in WW1

On 3 November 1914, Arethusa was one of the British ships mobilised in an attempt to catch the German ships that had attacked Yarmouth, without success.

Arethusa played a part in the battle of Dogger Bank, 24 January 1915, firing two torpedoes into the German cruiser Blücher. Later she returned to the scene and rescued 260 survivors.

On 11 February 1916 she hit a mine just off Felixstowe. The mine had been laid by the German submarine UC 7 on the previous day. The explosion killed six men, including William who was only 33

========================================================

My Grandfather was also an engineer on board The Muria in WW2. The Muria was a Thames tugboat, famous for bring the Cutty Sark back to Greenwich. She was one of the 'Little Ships' that answered the call to evacuate the troops from Dunkirk.

The Thames tugs towed a string of smaller boats behind them, and it was on the return journey loaded with exhausted troops that she struck a mine in the Thames Estuary just off the North Kent coast. There were no survivors. Cyril was also only 33.

https://imgur.com/a/FG8AOD6

[Phage]

I wonder if the University of Southampton Students union president will be remembering it

From a quick Google, it would appear that if there is anything that would add to her self-aggrandisment - then yes

[ik9000]

From a quick Google, it would appear that if there is anything that would add to her self-aggrandisment - then yes

I can't comment on her individually, but it sounds like most of the student politics types I knew at university. Awful greasypole climbing weasels most of them. Some of them are now MPs. *shudders* Others are stuffing up our public services from within the civil service. Odd, as I wouldn't trust them to run a bath, but somehow they get these jobs.

[AGTDenton]

My father was the first male to make it past 33.

I have to say that really puts a perspective on life back then.


This is quite fascinating, the sudden silence of the end of the war:
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/07/eerie...f-ww1-8114109/

[atemporal]

I have to say that really puts a perspective on life back then.


This is quite fascinating, the sudden silence of the end of the war:
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/07/eerie...f-ww1-8114109/

Surprised it has birdsong suddenly starting at the end. Most birds I've encountered wouldn't be anywhere near that blasting. IIRC Moselle was rivers and canals and the US were pushing into it with boats and all sorts right until the last. so it might well still have been green enough to have some birds.

[AGTDenton]

Surprised it has birdsong suddenly starting at the end. Most birds I've encountered wouldn't be anywhere near that blasting. IIRC Moselle was rivers and canals and the US were pushing into it with boats and all sorts right until the last. so it might well still have been green enough to have some birds.

I was a bit curious about that as well, I'm thinking this is perhaps sped up in some way or maybe not from a single location.

EDIT: Interestingly, I just looked up the time the Armistice was signed, and it was 5:45am, so its quite possibly real... if the birds back then were anything like the ones that live near me.