I'm usually very careful about which charities I donate money to. There are a lot of scams out there, and there are even more legitimate charities that spend most of the money on bureaucracy and their own staff than on their projects.
That being said, I send money every year to The Last Post Association in Ypres. In 1928, the British Legion and the Old Contemptibles gave four silver trumpets to the town of Ypres, and every night since men of the Ypres Fire Brigade blow the Last Post at the Menin Gate at 8pm. The only exception was between 1940-1944, for obvious reasons. The Last Post Association state that, on the evening that the town was liberated, the practice began again.
On 9 July, 2015 the Last Post will be blown for the 30,000th time at the Menin Gate.
In 2010, we came for my 25th birthday (yes, I know-- I do get teased for my taste in vacations) because my birthday is 11 November. My great-grandfather was at 2nd Ypres (St Julien) the Somme, 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele) and in the reserve trenches at Vimy Ridge in 1917. (He wasn't part of the first assault, but he did take part in the battle.) On 11 November every year, there is a Remembrance ceremony at the Menin Gate. It was incredibly powerful. We were a part of the Poppy Parade, which meets at St. George's Memorial Chapel that morning, and marches through the streets to the Menin Gate, so we were able to be under the Gate during the ceremony.
The Fire Brigade blew the Last Post, and the Mayor of Ypres spoke. He said that he is asked regularly how long they plan to do this? The Last Post and the 11 November Remembrance Ceremony? He was entirely serious and grave when he leaned forward into the microphone and said, "Forever. We will do this forever." And that is the motto of the Last Post Association.
Our first night (14 August) we went to the ceremony. There were easily 700 people present; and the South Wales Men's Choir were present and sang two hymns. The Welsh National Memorial opened in the Ypres Salient on the 16th, and they were there to represent Wales. The Ypres police stop all traffic through the Menin Gate at 19:30, at 19:55 the crowd is shushed, and at 20:00 the Last Post is blown. On the night of the 14th, the Coventry Airborne Association were also present, and the winners of the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize-- Canadian high school students who come over to see the battlefields and learn about their country's place in the War.
Just as when we were there for the 11 November Ceremony, people who lost family members in the War, especially those who are remembered on the Gate, can request to lay a Poppy Wreath as part of the ceremony. This time, 4 families laid wreaths. On 11 November, about 20 laid wreaths, and for me the most moving were a party of Sikhs who had traveled from India to lay wreaths in remembrance of their grandfathers who had died in the Ypres Salient fighting for the British Empire. Soldiers from all over the world are remembered on the Menin Gate. Indeed, their names are spoken daily by those who come to visit. They will never be forgotten.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Vimy Ridge
We just got back from Vimy Ridge today. I'm always blown away by that. It's the most beautiful memorial of the First World War that I have ever seen. The Menin Gate is majestic, and has aspects of beauty, but Vimy blows it away. It stands in a commanding position over the Vimy Ridge, and can be seen from miles around. Two majestic pillars stand above a foundation which lists the over 11,000 men of the Canadian Army who have no known grave, not counting the over 7,000 who are listed on the Menin Gate of Ypres.
The monument itself is incredible. It's bright white, and stands alone on a smooth green lawn, surrounded by the remnants of the Vimy Ridge battlefield. On either side of the green lawn lies the cratered ground of the Vimy preserved battlefield. The most moving part of the memorial for me is the statue of the woman standing at the very front, overlooking the battlefield. It represents Mother Canada, weeping over her lost sons. As the pillars represent peace, justice, sacrifice and victory, Mother Canada represents the loss felt by those left behind; the loss of the war.
Today, there were three flower arrangements left at the symbolic tomb of the Canadian soldier at the base of the monument. There were three poppy wreaths, and a poster to the memory of a lost soldier. They are not forgotten.
We also went to the preserved trenches that are about .5 miles away; they have lined the Canadian and German observation trenches with sandbags made of cement to keep the lines strong. You can stand in an observation post and check out the German trenches, behind a sniper shield that is 1/2 inch thick. At their closest points, the lines are only 25 meters apart.
We also got to go on the tunnel tour, which I highly recommend. The Vimy tunnels are four levels deep, and the fourth level has a light rail that is supposed to have a train still parked at it. The tunnels were used to bring up men and supplies for the attack without the Germans knowing.
My great-grandfather was not in the first assault on Vimy, but he was in the reserve trenches 6 km behind the front lines and came up a few days later to help hold the front lines against German counter assault. He was stationed in Mont St-Eloi, right near the ruined Abbey. We stopped by the Abbey towers as well, and it really does have a commanding position. Apparently the French were using it for reconnaissance and artillery spotting before the Germans finally knocked them out.
The Canadian students at Vimy do wonderful tours, totally worth waiting for. And a short walk around the battlefield really brings it home to you. My brother and sister, who are here for the first time, were as hard-hit as my dad and I were in 2005 when we first came. There is no way to describe your first sight of the battlefields.
The monument itself is incredible. It's bright white, and stands alone on a smooth green lawn, surrounded by the remnants of the Vimy Ridge battlefield. On either side of the green lawn lies the cratered ground of the Vimy preserved battlefield. The most moving part of the memorial for me is the statue of the woman standing at the very front, overlooking the battlefield. It represents Mother Canada, weeping over her lost sons. As the pillars represent peace, justice, sacrifice and victory, Mother Canada represents the loss felt by those left behind; the loss of the war.
Today, there were three flower arrangements left at the symbolic tomb of the Canadian soldier at the base of the monument. There were three poppy wreaths, and a poster to the memory of a lost soldier. They are not forgotten.
We also went to the preserved trenches that are about .5 miles away; they have lined the Canadian and German observation trenches with sandbags made of cement to keep the lines strong. You can stand in an observation post and check out the German trenches, behind a sniper shield that is 1/2 inch thick. At their closest points, the lines are only 25 meters apart.
We also got to go on the tunnel tour, which I highly recommend. The Vimy tunnels are four levels deep, and the fourth level has a light rail that is supposed to have a train still parked at it. The tunnels were used to bring up men and supplies for the attack without the Germans knowing.
My great-grandfather was not in the first assault on Vimy, but he was in the reserve trenches 6 km behind the front lines and came up a few days later to help hold the front lines against German counter assault. He was stationed in Mont St-Eloi, right near the ruined Abbey. We stopped by the Abbey towers as well, and it really does have a commanding position. Apparently the French were using it for reconnaissance and artillery spotting before the Germans finally knocked them out.
The Canadian students at Vimy do wonderful tours, totally worth waiting for. And a short walk around the battlefield really brings it home to you. My brother and sister, who are here for the first time, were as hard-hit as my dad and I were in 2005 when we first came. There is no way to describe your first sight of the battlefields.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
WWI? But that wasn't a big deal. There were no Nazis in WWI, right?
My interest in the First World War has always puzzled my friends. They tend to look on it the same way as a World of Warcraft addiction, or someone who can actually speak Klingon. A personal quirk that shouldn't be held against me. I gave up trying to explain some time ago, because it was clear that they didn't see what I saw.
I have toured the battlefields of the Western Front twice now; once almost accidentally (that awoke my interest in the War, and I spent the next two years reading everything I could get my hands on about it) and again for my 25th birthday (I was born on 11 November; a curious coincidence, considering). I am taking my entire family on a third tour tomorrow, 13 August, for the Centenary of the War. I have spent the last year researching and planning the trip.
I'll be using this blog to talk about it, to draw attention to the Centenary, and hopefully to help others choose to visit the battlefields themselves.
I remember hearing stories from my father that he had heard from his grandfather about the Western Front during World War I. They were never particularly detailed stories but he would always shudder, as his grandfather had, when he repeated to me "Eep-ray (Ypres), a man's life wasn't worth THAT." with a snap of the fingers. It always made me shudder too.
My great-grandfather, Murdo Nicolson, spent almost 5 years on the Western Front with the Canadian Army between late 1914 and 1918. My parents, raised in Canada, had a completely different perspective of WWI from their children, raised in a suburb of New York City.
As an American child, WWI was never something I thought of; it's not "Our" war. The Civil War and WWII are "Our" wars, the wars that really defined the national character and changed our national destiny. They are the wars that families remember; the soldiers who died serving in those wars are still remembered by their descendants today.
The basic school curriculum involved the 4 causes of WWI: Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism, Alliances. WWI was something that America was dragged into unwillingly, to save Europe when she couldn't save herself. As students we wrote rather smug essays with pat analyses; WWI was inevitable because the countries of Europe were caught up by the fervor of the times; it was inevitable because the countries of Europe didn't WANT to avert war; it was inevitable because the leaders of Europe were too blind to see the consequences of going to war. Growing up, I didn't know anyone whose great-grandfathers had fought in WWI. Everyone's grandfathers, and sometimes grandmothers, had been involved in WWII; but there is a cultural blind-spot about the First war.
For me, that changed when I spent 6 months as a University student in Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais; the very top province of France. Arras was fought over almost continuously in WWI, and again in WWII. As part of the German zone of occupation in WWII, the people had lived under Nazi rule from 1940-1944. I assumed that that would be the defining event of their modern history; but not so.
Monuments to the fallen of 1914-1918, American, British, Canadian, and French cover the town. There are memorial plaques, statues, and monuments everywhere. The people live with WWI as though it ended yesterday. The entire town was destroyed in the shelling during the 1917 Battle of Arras, but you wouldn't know it to look at it now. The Arrageois rebuilt it in the same Flemish style, and unless you know that there was an Ursuline Convent and chapel across the Petit-Place from the Hotel de Ville, you'll never miss it.
The countryside around Arras is dotted with Allied cemeteries, lovingly tended, and memorials to the battles of the Western Front and to the fallen.
My awareness of the War as something more came when my father visited. He wanted to tour the battlefields of the Western Front, so we did. We were completely unprepared for the experience.
I have toured the battlefields of the Western Front twice now; once almost accidentally (that awoke my interest in the War, and I spent the next two years reading everything I could get my hands on about it) and again for my 25th birthday (I was born on 11 November; a curious coincidence, considering). I am taking my entire family on a third tour tomorrow, 13 August, for the Centenary of the War. I have spent the last year researching and planning the trip.
I'll be using this blog to talk about it, to draw attention to the Centenary, and hopefully to help others choose to visit the battlefields themselves.
I remember hearing stories from my father that he had heard from his grandfather about the Western Front during World War I. They were never particularly detailed stories but he would always shudder, as his grandfather had, when he repeated to me "Eep-ray (Ypres), a man's life wasn't worth THAT." with a snap of the fingers. It always made me shudder too.
My great-grandfather, Murdo Nicolson, spent almost 5 years on the Western Front with the Canadian Army between late 1914 and 1918. My parents, raised in Canada, had a completely different perspective of WWI from their children, raised in a suburb of New York City.
As an American child, WWI was never something I thought of; it's not "Our" war. The Civil War and WWII are "Our" wars, the wars that really defined the national character and changed our national destiny. They are the wars that families remember; the soldiers who died serving in those wars are still remembered by their descendants today.
The basic school curriculum involved the 4 causes of WWI: Imperialism, Militarism, Nationalism, Alliances. WWI was something that America was dragged into unwillingly, to save Europe when she couldn't save herself. As students we wrote rather smug essays with pat analyses; WWI was inevitable because the countries of Europe were caught up by the fervor of the times; it was inevitable because the countries of Europe didn't WANT to avert war; it was inevitable because the leaders of Europe were too blind to see the consequences of going to war. Growing up, I didn't know anyone whose great-grandfathers had fought in WWI. Everyone's grandfathers, and sometimes grandmothers, had been involved in WWII; but there is a cultural blind-spot about the First war.
For me, that changed when I spent 6 months as a University student in Arras, Nord-Pas-de-Calais; the very top province of France. Arras was fought over almost continuously in WWI, and again in WWII. As part of the German zone of occupation in WWII, the people had lived under Nazi rule from 1940-1944. I assumed that that would be the defining event of their modern history; but not so.
Monuments to the fallen of 1914-1918, American, British, Canadian, and French cover the town. There are memorial plaques, statues, and monuments everywhere. The people live with WWI as though it ended yesterday. The entire town was destroyed in the shelling during the 1917 Battle of Arras, but you wouldn't know it to look at it now. The Arrageois rebuilt it in the same Flemish style, and unless you know that there was an Ursuline Convent and chapel across the Petit-Place from the Hotel de Ville, you'll never miss it.
The countryside around Arras is dotted with Allied cemeteries, lovingly tended, and memorials to the battles of the Western Front and to the fallen.
My awareness of the War as something more came when my father visited. He wanted to tour the battlefields of the Western Front, so we did. We were completely unprepared for the experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)