Recent Uploads tagged laboisselle

The Somme

nobody@flickr.com (Nick J Stone) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:58:17 -0800

Sausage Valley. Looking from La Boisselle towards Albert.

The Somme, France.

Minotaur

nobody@flickr.com (Giles C. Watson) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:12:24 -0800

Reading: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHwxx9mxINo

Minotaur

“Sapper John Lane, from Staffordshire,
father of four, reporting for duty, Sir.
Married man. Occupation: miner.
I’m here to kill the Minotaur.”

We have five thousand, nine hundred
pounds of charge down here, hoarded
up in a dead-end. I am one in twenty-
five thousand, serving a cold country.
We have dug a labyrinth that winds
three hundred miles. We make new worlds,
sunless as Hades, raftered for a stoop-
bodied race who see by candle-stump
and lantern, scrawling grimed signatures
on walls of hewn stone, our muscled statures
thumb-squat, stunted. Our masters –
or maybe theirs – made the Minotaur
while we were mining, out of a horned
coupling of flesh and iron: shook the hand
of Mammon, and agreed to murderous war.
We’re eighty feet underground. Here’s where
to lay the fuse. Trail it along this way,
between your legs. Still. Listen. Wait.

Hear him moving? That distant clanking
is the steel-clad tattoo of his hell-cloven
hooves: a muffled scrabble, a mutter
of voices – German. He is made of miners
the same as you: a vast conglomeration
of industrial flesh. His every motion
mirrors yours, and when the wall
caves in, you see him, and the wailing
snort that issues from his gasmasked
nostrils is your own. A grey mist
descends – rock dust – and haloed
in it, his pick, upraised: his old
hallowed horns ready for a goring.

A candle sears his glowering
eyes: he lowers it to his fuse,
and cowering on all fours
hunkers under the lode.

His charge and yours explode.

Poem by Giles Watson, 2012. Sapper John Lane was a 45 year-old miner from Tipton in Staffordshire. He and four colleagues from his colliery served at the besieged village of La Boisselle in 1915-1916, in a desperate subterranean struggle of mining and counter-mining. Neither Sapper John nor his colleagues returned. He was killed 80 feet below the surface when a German mine exploded, detonating a British charge of 5,900 pounds. For further information on La Boisselle, which has been the subject of recent archaeological excavations, see: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-13630203.

2 Lieutenant Clyde Fairbanks Maxwell

nobody@flickr.com (IWM Collections) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 07:43:13 -0700

IWM Collections posted a photo:

9 Battalion, Essex Regiment

Lt Maxwell was reported wounded and missing, aged 23, at La Boisselle on 3 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Faces of the First World War
The full story is not always known to us. If you know more, please tell us in the comments below.

Find out more about this First World War Centenary project at www.1914.org/faces.

This image is from IWM Collections.

Captain William John Mason

nobody@flickr.com (IWM Collections) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:47:14 -0700

IWM Collections posted a photo:

8 Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment

Captain Mason, a scientist, graduated with first class honours from London University and was a lecturer at Bristol University before the outbreak of war in 1914.

He enlisted as a private initially in the Civil Service Rifles and subsequently with the Bristol University Officer Training Corps.

Captain Mason received his commission in November 1914 and joined the Gloucestershire Regiment.

He was promoted to captain in January 1916 and was killed in action, aged 27, at La Boisselle on 23 July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. He is commmemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.

Faces of the First World War
The full story is not always known to us. If you know more, please tell us in the comments below.

Find out more about this First World War Centenary project at www.1914.org/faces.

This image is from IWM Collections.

Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Carton de Wiart

nobody@flickr.com (IWM Collections) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 05:00:58 -0700

IWM Collections posted a photo:

4th Dragoon Guards, attd as commanding officer 8th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment

Lieutenant Colonel Carton de Wiart was awarded the Victoria Cross for the following action:

"On 2 July - 3 July 1916, at La Boisselle, France, Lieutenant-Colonel Carton de Wiart's dauntless courage and inspiration averted what could have been a serious reverse. He displayed the utmost energy in forcing the attack home and after three other battalion commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands and made sure that the ground was held at all costs. In organising the positions to be held, he exposed himself fearlessly to enemy fire."

Carton de Wiart was born in Belgium. He joined the British Army and fought during the Second Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, sustaining a serious chest wound. On the outbreak of the First World War, Carton de Wiart was serving with the Somaliland Camel Corps and engaged in suppressing a rebellion by Mohammed bin Abdullah's Muslim forces.

In an attack upon an enemy fort at Shimber Berris, Carton de Wiart was shot in the face, losing his left eye. He served on the Western Front from 1915, commanding three infantry battalions and a brigade. He was also seriously wounded seven times, losing his left hand in 1915.

Carton de Wiart spent the interwar years in Poland, serving with the British Military Mission and escaping the country as it was overrun by German and Soviet forces in 1939. He then served in Norway and was en route to take up a command in Yugoslavia when his aircraft was shot down.

Carton de Wiart was taken prisoner by the Italians by whom he was released in 1943. He spent the remaining war years in the Far East, witnessing the Japanese surrender at Singapore. Carton de Wiart died in 1963.

Faces of the First World War
The full story is not always known to us. If you know more, please tell us in the comments below.

Find out more about this First World War Centenary project at www.1914.org/faces.

This image is from IWM Collections.

Lochnagar Crater, The Somme.

nobody@flickr.com (Nick J Stone) — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:22:06 -0700

Nick J Stone posted a photo:

A big hole, blown in 1916, killing loads of men, no point to it really.

Lochnagar cross

nobody@flickr.com (Nick J Stone) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:55:04 -0700

Nick J Stone posted a photo:

Lochnagar Crater, just to your left, the front is directly in front of you, as in eth British lines, The German lines are beneath your feet as indeed are a lot of soldiers.

This was a mine, laid by the British, under the German lines, A lot of ammonal, a lot of bangs, a lot of dead and disorientated enemy. Not disorientated enough to leave the position they cut the 34th Division down in swathes. this area was hotly contested for a fair while in July 1916. Eventually the British and Commonwealth troops took it.

I read a harrowing passage recently about the sheer number of bodies from both sides of the line who were slid into the bottom of the crater, their remains swallowed by the fractured chalk and marl slipping down the side, It remains the last resting place of a lot of boys.

It's all a bit Golgotha really what with the huge wooden cross.

sexxplore #367

Lochnagar Crater

nobody@flickr.com (Nick J Stone) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:14:04 -0700

Nick J Stone posted a photo:

La Boisselle, Le Grande Mine. It's huge, no matter how big I try and make it look, it's bigger than that. On the 1st of July 1916 at 7.28am two charges which had been placed by miners 60ft apart, one of 36,000lbs the other 24,000lbs of ammonal. These were were detonated at 7.28am in the morning. the blast created a crater 300ft across and 70ft deep. It obliterated the front line, killing countless German soldiers in the front line trenches. The rear trenches rushed forward and occupied the lip, with enfilade fire from the remaining german trenches either side, they decimated wave after wave of the 34th division who advanced on the smoking hole in the ground and the front line on either side. I've read that the second wave, which included the 6th battalion Wiltshire regiment did actually get into the crater, probably only 15 men managed it, I've also read they weren't actually told it was there...

The only way I can try and give this any scale really is, I think the cross on the far side is about 18ft high.

Lochnagar Crater in La Boisselle

nobody@flickr.com (Joop van Meer) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 07:21:47 -0800

Joop van Meer posted a photo:

The biggest crater of the war. A huge mine was blown in the morning of the great attack of 1 July 1916. German lines were blown up, but British troops didn't conquer the village of Boisselle behind it.

La Boisselle

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:52 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

The Tyneside Memorial seat. The inscription on it reads:

"Greater love hath no man than this that he lay down his life for his friend. In front of this monument on 1/7/16 the 'Tyneside Scottish' and the 'Tyneside Irish' brigades attacked the enemy. For many hours the fortunes of arms fluctuated but ere night had fallen the two Tyneside Brigades with the aid of other units of the 34th Division attained their objective. Think not that the struggle and the sacrifice were in vain."

La Boisselle.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:52 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

Take One.
I think I body checked Steve and nicked his spot on our sprint to the seat. He's doing his best to keep his pose dignified while the rest of us giggle.

Lochnagar.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:53 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

Enter at your peril...

Lochnagar.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:55 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

This memorial bench is dedicated to Harry Fellows, a veteran and poet. The bench was paid for from the sale of his poetry.
One of his poems was composed for the 70th anniversary of the Somme battle.

THEY GROW NOT OLD
As I sit in my chair content with my pipe,
In smoke clouds some faces come clear
Of those who are gone, cut off in their youth
But whose memory I hold so dear.
Like the flow of a stream, time passes by,
It's seventy years on I am told
But the faces I see still seem to be young
But I, who was left, have grown old.

My pal, 'Pip' Henson, a North country lad,
Our dialects so far apart,
He called me 'Marra', I called him 'Mate',
But our friendship came from the heart.
"I'll be gannin' Marra!"
He walked from my side
The great reaper took him to his fold,
But the face that I see is still just nineteen
But I, who was left, have grown old.

Grey hairs, baldness, arthritis,
Glasses and similar aids,
These things never entered their minds,
Their thoughts centred more on the maids.
The mud and the rats of the trenches
And other discomforts untold
Seem never to alter the visage of youth,
But I, who was left, have grown old.

The walls of the Thiepval Memorial
Carry thousands of names which tell
Of those who were lost, with no known grave
Just dumped in the ground where they fell.
In my smoke clouds I see them all marching,
Singing with manner so bold,
Full of the vim and vigour of youth
But I, who was left, have grown old.

They fought and died for their country
To make a land in which heroes could live,
Just like pipe dreams of those at Westminster
Had they lived, would they ever forgive?
We returned to find nothing had altered,
Some men had a base greed for gold,
And we still had to fight - for a living,
It's a wonder we lived to grow old.

Harry Fellows. 1896 - 1987.

His full story and a link to buy his autobiography can be seen here: www.lochnagarcrater.org/FriendsArticles.html

More of his poetry can be read here: www.tvaa.org.uk/harryfellows.htm

Lochnagar.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:56 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

Memorial to Tom Easton of the Northumberland Fusiliers and a member of the Tyneside Scottish. He survived the war and worked as a miner. He was active in the union, the Labour Party and his local council.
His story was partly told in Martin Middlebrook's excellent book "First Day on the Somme" and he continued to visit the battlefields until his death.

There is an additional plaque in the photo on the left base of the memorial. It's to Gunner W. Noon of the Royal Field Artillery who lived between 1895 and 1963.

Lochnagar.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:55 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

This cross marks the site of the discovery of a soldier's remains in 1998. Private George Nugent of the Tyneside Scottish was identified as he'd engraved his name and service number on his razor.
He was reburied in Ovillers CWGC on the 1st of July 2000, 84 years after he was killed in battle.

Lochnagar.

nobody@flickr.com (Mostonian FCUM) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 06:40:54 -0800

Mostonian FCUM posted a photo:

More of the detritus of war that plagues the farmers of the area.

Gordon Dump Cemetery, Ovillers/La Boisselle, HDR

nobody@flickr.com (KopeX) — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:21:30 -0700

KopeX posted a photo:

On 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 8th Division attacked Ovillers and the 34th Division La Boisselle. The villages were not captured, but ground was won between them and to the south of La Boisselle. On 4 July, the 19th (Western) Division cleared La Boisselle and on 7 July the 12th (Eastern) and 25th Divisions gained part of Ovillers, the village being cleared by the 48th (South Midland) Division on 17 July. The two villages were lost during the German advance in March 1918, but they were retaken on the following 24 August by the 38th (Welsh) Division.

Plot I of the Cemetery was made by fighting units after 10 July 1916 and closed in September when it contained the graves of 95 soldiers, mainly Australian. It was called variously Gordon (or Gordon's) Dump Cemetery or Sausage Valley Cemetery, from the name given to the broad, shallow valley that runs down from it to Becourt. The remainder of the cemetery was formed after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the 1916 battlefields immediately surrounding the cemetery.

There are now 1,676 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 1,053 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 34 casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

The Lochnagar Crater

nobody@flickr.com (KopeX) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:45:27 -0700

KopeX posted a photo:

"The largest crater ever made by man in anger"

Anyone who has been will know this is very hard to reproduce what the eye can see. Shot with a 10mm to be as wide as possible the lens captures a lot of the foreground, despite my tripod being on the lip, reducing the perspective of depth. The people on the far ridge give an idea to this craters size.

The Lochnagar mine was an explosive-packed mine created by the Royal Engineer tunnelling companies, located south of the village of La Boisselle in the Somme département of France, which was detonated at 7:28 am on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Lochnagar mine, along with a neighbouring mine north of the village known as the Y Sap mine, contained 24 tons of ammonal. At the time these mines were the largest ever detonated.

"The whole earth heaved and flashed, a tremendous and magnificent column rose up in the sky. There was an ear-splitting roar drowning all the guns, flinging the machine sideways in the repercussing air. The earth column rose higher and higher to almost 4,000 feet. There it hung, or seemed to hang, for a moment in the air, like the silhouette of some great cypress tree, then fell away in a widening cone of dust and debris."

Somme 1916

nobody@flickr.com (Juhani Sierla) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 09:22:29 -0700

Juhani Sierla posted a photo:

Cheshiren Rykmentin miehiä jouksuhaudassa La Boissellen lähellä heinäkuussa 1916. Yksi mies vartioi kun muut lepäävät. (kuva kokoelmistani)

Men from The Cheshire Regiment in a trench near La Boisselle in July 1916. One of the soldiers is keeping watch as others are resting. (photo from my collection

Memorial to 22/1306 Pte George Nugent, Lochnagar Crater, La Boisselle, Picardie, France

nobody@flickr.com (Reg Marjason) — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 08:33:54 -0700

Reg Marjason posted a photo: