Lest we forget....
 

“Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind —
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!


Rememberance Day is just under a month away.........Will get my poppy flown over to wear !

Re: Lest we forget....
 

you can buy poppies here too :)

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Oh good thanks, I didnt know that !.....

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Park n Shop I think, I used to always get mine at the Country Club. If I see any I will post on here :thumbup: and it is Arbroath's Birthday that day too :)

Re: Lest we forget....
 

There are always poppies for sale at DOSC too.

-

Re: Lest we forget....
 

But do the proceeds go to the right charities back home?

Re: Lest we forget....
 

My favourite Hymn..

Having experienced 1st hand the realities of armed conflict lest we ever ever forget.



Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word,
Who walked'st on the foaming deep,
and calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger's hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee,
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea

Re: Lest we forget....
 

I like this one too....


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Re: Lest we forget....
 

For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is a music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.

-- Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Horace ?


Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidove tergo."
"How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country:
Death pursues the man who flees,
spares not the hamstrings or cowardly backs
Of battle-shy youths."


I prefer Owen....

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering,choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.

8 October 1917 - March, 1918



And we still haven't learned................

Re: Lest we forget....
 

and were not likely to either unfortunately

i always liked this one by sassoon

The General

"Good-morning; good-morning!" the General said
When we met him last week on our way to the line.
Now the soldiers he smiled at are most of ’em dead,
And we’re cursing his staff for incompetent swine.
"He’s a cheery old card," grunted Harry to Jack
As they slogged up to Arras with rifle and pack.

But he did for them both by his plan of attack

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Quite a few versions on youtube...

Re: Lest we forget....
 

the moment my grandfather was killed aged 22. My father never met him....


27th February, complete with 150 prisoners, 4 SP guns and 2 tanks destroyed to their credit. By this time 3rd Canadian Div had cleared all but the extreme south-west corner of Udem. At first light 44th Royal Tanks and 2nd KRRC passed through the Scots Greys and 4th KSLI, but their progress was slowed by the very boggy ground was very boggy, which was almost impossible for tanks, plus the fact there was only a gap of a few hundred yards between the anti-tank ditch round Udem and the thick woods. The latter was full of infantry, with many Panzerfausts (German bazookas), who were supported by a few SPs, which ran all along the Brigades long open right flank. At the end of the day, 3rd/4th CLY moved to support 4th KSLI and on 27th February they set out for Udem, with 'C' Squadron leading, who reported the town in Canadian hands. However, the regiment had to work round to the right of their route was blocked by Canadian vehicles. Three of the leading troop were brewed by fire from a Jagdpanther on high ground to the East and heavy fire was encountered by a patrol of No. 4 Troop, trying to recce the anti-tank ditches to the south east of Udem. 'A' and 'B' Squadrons, who were each carrying a Company of the Herefords, then passed through 'C' Squadron to offload their infantry. Then while supporting the infantry to their objectives, the Squadrons lost five tanks to heavy AP shooting from the North and South West. Meanwhile 'C' Squadron had carried a further Company of Herefords to Gochfortz ridge, right and forward of 'B' Squadron, who they then supported to their objective.

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Briliiant - this is all good.

Thanks

Re: Lest we forget....
 

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

Moina Michael, November 1918