Stunning photos of London's new WWI memorial

[Brazen]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-29935592

[Brazen]

The last one looks unfortunately like The Ascent of Man...

[Eddie Teach]

As we grow taller, so do our hats? 

[The Brain]

Great head of hair!

[CountDeMoney]

I see a lot of extra square footage that could be used for affordable housing.

[The Brain]

I see a lot of extra square footage that could be used for affordable housing.

Talk about seeing the moat in the neighbor's eye.

[Jacob]

I just learned that the McRae wrote "In Flanders Field" the day after the death of his friend Lt. Alexis Helmer, and that Lt. Helmer was an alumnus of my high school.

On a semi-related subject, I've seen people sporting the poppies, but I haven't come across a single veteran or cadet soliciting for the poppy fund yet. It's kind of weird.

[mongers]

I just learned that the McRae wrote "In Flanders Field" the day after the death of his friend Lt. Alexis Helmer, and that Lt. Helmer was an alumnus of my high school.

On a semi-related subject, I've seen people sporting the poppies, but I haven't come across a single veteran or cadet soliciting for the poppy fund yet. It's kind of weird.

Nice historical link. 

I often search out the war memorial in a village that's new to me.

There's a very small village* up the way from here and it has a wooden memorial board denoting all those that served and those that died in World War One.
There's enough names on it, that the majority, if not most men from the village served in the war, I wonder what it was like for the women and families left behind?

You also see something of the relationships, be there family or class, as it seems everyone from the sons of the Lord of the manor**, to the farm hands volunteered to go to war.


*So small I could mentally tick off from memory all the houses there.

** A very fine and imposing house, manor is the wrong term, it's a grand Elizabethan country-pile, I think the family currently there bought it at the turn on the 20th century, so they were rather wealthy, but still served their country in war.   

[Sheilbh]

I always find the little village war memorials very moving. As you'll know you go through villages which are places in Hardy's Wessex, with barely 500 people, and they'll have a full plaque of names.

And as you say it was all sorts of people. I believe the largest casualty group, proportionally, were the junior officers.

Planning to visit the Tower this week to see this. When it started I thought it just looked a bit gauche, but it's grown on me as the poppies have been added.

On a semi-related subject, I've seen people sporting the poppies, but I haven't come across a single veteran or cadet soliciting for the poppy fund yet. It's kind of weird.

Strange. I've seen a fair few cadets/soldiers out selling them.

How common is wearing them in Canada?

[Jacob]

I always find the little village war memorials very moving. As you'll know you go through villages which are places in Hardy's Wessex, with barely 500 people, and they'll have a full plaque of names.

And as you say it was all sorts of people. I believe the largest casualty group, proportionally, were the junior officers.

Yeah it's definitely sobering to think about.

Planning to visit the Tower this week to see this. When it started I thought it just looked a bit gauche, but it's grown on me as the poppies have been added.

I can see that on both counts.

Strange. I've seen a fair few cadets/soldiers out selling them.

How common is wearing them in Canada?

Very common.

The strange part is not that the people aren't out there collecting for the poppy fund, it's that I've managed not to see any of them.

Though I was chatting to someone who said that most of the poppy/ donation spots he'd seen are actually at cash registers at various stores.

[Sheilbh]

And of course there's a poppy for each British and colonial casualty - so more than 800 000 - but Canada' included

On the war memorial front I remember seeing the one in the village my mum and dad live in, which has about 500 people in it. There were over 20 names and at least 2 from the same family. When you remember that area of the country's Hardy's Wessex there's something almost indecent about it.

[Berkut]

I just finished reading Battle Tactics of The Western Front: The British Army's Art of Attack 1916-1918.


http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Tactics-Western-Front-British/dp/0300066635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415403650&sr=8-1&keywords=battle+tactics+of+the+western+front

Incredibly dry, and incredibly awesome. Goes into ridiculous detail about things that I am sure the vast, vast majority of people could not care less about, yet I find sacinating and largely missing from most military history.

WW1 in so many ways was mentally and psychologically over-shadowed by WW2, and yet was probably the vastly more significant war...

[Berkut]

That is really, really fucking cool. By the way.

I wish I could have bought one of them...

[Agelastus]

In 1911 Desborough, my home town, had about 4000 people living in it.

At least 85 people resident or born in the town died. That's a pretty horrific percentage of the relevant male age group.

http://www.afamilystory.co.uk/desborough/armed-forces/world-war-1.aspx

They haven't got his service number there for me to be certain but since he's buried in Desborough I assume that the "Ward, William" listed is my Great-Grandfather.*


--------

And yes, I thought the poppies might be tacky/gauche as well but now, seeing them all...the whole thing is quite moving.

[Agelastus]

I just finished reading Battle Tactics of The Western Front: The British Army's Art of Attack 1916-1918.


http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Tactics-Western-Front-British/dp/0300066635/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415403650&sr=8-1&keywords=battle+tactics+of+the+western+front

Incredibly dry, and incredibly awesome. Goes into ridiculous detail about things that I am sure the vast, vast majority of people could not care less about, yet I find sacinating and largely missing from most military history.

WW1 in so many ways was mentally and psychologically over-shadowed by WW2, and yet was probably the vastly more significant war...

Thanks for bringing this up Berkut; I've just impulse bought it on your recommendation. It should make a nice adjunct to the more general texts I own.