100 YEARS ON............LEST WE FORGET

kahnjar1 · 26th July 2014, 10:47 PM

An unlearned lesson..........how the death of one man can cause the deaths of 9 million more.
100 Years ago tomorrow (July 28th) the Great War, which became known as World War 1, started and 9 million combatants died.
The catalyst was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo on the 28th June 1914.
LEST WE FORGET

Gavin Nugent · 27th July 2014, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kahnjar1

An unlearned lesson..........how the death of one man can cause the deaths of 9 million more.
100 Years ago tomorrow (July 28th) the Great War, which became known as World War 1, started and 9 million combatants died.
The catalyst was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo on the 28th June 1914.
LEST WE FORGET

Thank you Stu...How much has been forgotten....

LEST WE FORGET

ulfberth · 27th July 2014, 04:27 AM

they still find bombs, shrapnell ore other relics in and near flanders fields here daily, most of them are never reported

M ELEY · 27th July 2014, 06:05 AM

It seems inconceivable how events sometimes fall into place. It is shocking and incredibly sad that the death of one man, even a great one, could spark a conflict that would kill the equivelant population of a small European country. Even today, if one thinks about what might happen if a certain world leader were to fall, would we march right back into destruction? The chaos of those times were also the lit fuse, but we can see many comparisons today with world instability...

fernando · 28th July 2014, 08:28 PM

Remember the battle of La Lys (April 1918), the greatest Portuguese war catastrophe since Alcácer Kibir in 1578.

Norman McCormick · 28th July 2014, 09:51 PM

The Scots have good reason to remember a certain Anibal Milhais a Portuguese soldier and his heroism during the fighting at the Lys offensive.

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.

fernando · 29th July 2014, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norman McCormick

The Scots have good reason to remember a certain Anibal Milhais a Portuguese soldier and his heroism during the fighting at the Lys offensive...

I'll be damned, Norman !!
You know about private Milhões. Yes, he had his name 'changed' from Milhais to Milhões as, after holding along the enemy's advance with his Lewis gun (called Luisa), he managed to rescue a Scottish Doctor from drowning in a swamp. When the Doctor reported his feats to the allies, the camp Comander said: you are Milhais, but you are worth Milhões (millions).

Norman McCormick · 30th July 2014, 05:25 PM

Hi Fernando,
My wife's grandfather was a captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1916-18 and survived the war so I have done some reading about WW1 and remembered about a Portuguese soldier who gave covering fire to Portuguese and Scottish troops when they were pushed back by a much larger force during an enemy 'push' i.e. the Lys offensive. A quick search of course gave me his name as I couldn't quite remember that much detail. One of my grandfathers joined up twice! once in 1914 and once in 1916 both times he was escorted home by the Military Police as he was in what was called 'a reserved occupation' being a marine engineer he was involved in building submarines on the Clyde. The second time he actually got to the training camp before he was 'discovered'. I believe lots of men in these reserved occupations tried to join up during WW1 and it got to be quite a headache for the authorities.
My Regards,
Norman.

P.S. Interestingly I have a pigeon message holder complete with message that my wife's grandfather brought back. It was written by him, how it came back into his possession I don't know, in it he reports sighting enemy cavalry and gives their position.

fernando · 30th July 2014, 06:12 PM

In those days some guys got hold of all imaginary schemes to join the army ... and the war.
After i lost my forearm in South Africa (Railways) they sent me to a new job in the docks, where i met this old foreman. He had a blind eye since he was a kid (or even born so). When the war came (don't remember which) he wanted to join at any cost and, imagine his ability to pass the visual exams. They told him to cover one eye and read the little letters on the board ... which he easily did. Then they told him to cover the other and he raised the other arm but covered the same eye as before ... and 'managed' to read the letters again ... and passed through.

kahnjar1 · 2nd August 2014, 10:45 PM

The main combatants get serious...............
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhis...ndex-1914.html

26th July 2014, 10:47 PM	#1
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,739	100 YEARS ON............LEST WE FORGET An unlearned lesson..........how the death of one man can cause the deaths of 9 million more. 100 Years ago tomorrow (July 28th) the Great War, which became known as World War 1, started and 9 million combatants died. The catalyst was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo on the 28th June 1914. LEST WE FORGET Attached Images

28th July 2014, 09:51 PM	#6
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,597	The Scots have good reason to remember a certain Anibal Milhais a Portuguese soldier and his heroism during the fighting at the Lys offensive. 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. Attached Images

30th July 2014, 06:12 PM	#9
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	In those days some guys got hold of all imaginary schemes to join the army ... and the war. After i lost my forearm in South Africa (Railways) they sent me to a new job in the docks, where i met this old foreman. He had a blind eye since he was a kid (or even born so). When the war came (don't remember which) he wanted to join at any cost and, imagine his ability to pass the visual exams. They told him to cover one eye and read the little letters on the board ... which he easily did. Then they told him to cover the other and he raised the other arm but covered the same eye as before ... and 'managed' to read the letters again ... and passed through. Last edited by fernando; 31st July 2014 at 10:37 AM.

2nd August 2014, 10:45 PM	#10
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,739	AUGUST 1 to AUGUST 4, 1914 The main combatants get serious............... http://www.historyplace.com/worldhis...ndex-1914.html

27th July 2014, 04:27 AM	#3
ulfberth Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 400	they still find bombs, shrapnell ore other relics in and near flanders fields here daily, most of them are never reported

27th July 2014, 06:05 AM	#4
M ELEY Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: NC, U.S.A. Posts: 2,097	It seems inconceivable how events sometimes fall into place. It is shocking and incredibly sad that the death of one man, even a great one, could spark a conflict that would kill the equivelant population of a small European country. Even today, if one thinks about what might happen if a certain world leader were to fall, would we march right back into destruction? The chaos of those times were also the lit fuse, but we can see many comparisons today with world instability...

28th July 2014, 08:28 PM	#5
fernando (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Portugal Posts: 9,694	Remember the battle of La Lys (April 1918), the greatest Portuguese war catastrophe since Alcácer Kibir in 1578.

30th July 2014, 05:25 PM	#8
Norman McCormick Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1,597	Hi Fernando, My wife's grandfather was a captain in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1916-18 and survived the war so I have done some reading about WW1 and remembered about a Portuguese soldier who gave covering fire to Portuguese and Scottish troops when they were pushed back by a much larger force during an enemy 'push' i.e. the Lys offensive. A quick search of course gave me his name as I couldn't quite remember that much detail. One of my grandfathers joined up twice! once in 1914 and once in 1916 both times he was escorted home by the Military Police as he was in what was called 'a reserved occupation' being a marine engineer he was involved in building submarines on the Clyde. The second time he actually got to the training camp before he was 'discovered'. I believe lots of men in these reserved occupations tried to join up during WW1 and it got to be quite a headache for the authorities. My Regards, Norman. P.S. Interestingly I have a pigeon message holder complete with message that my wife's grandfather brought back. It was written by him, how it came back into his possession I don't know, in it he reports sighting enemy cavalry and gives their position.