egbert Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 A couple visits the grave of son Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 I want to read this Egbert so please provide a translation if you will. Many Thanks Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pylon1357 Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 I want to read this Egbert so please provide a translation if you will. Many Thanks Norman Egbert, I too would like to read this but cannot as I do not read or speak German. I tried to cut and paste the text into a translation program, but since it is a scan/photo, I was not bale to do so. Regards, Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 February , 2012 ..... please provide a translation ...... Many Thanks Norman Hello Mick are you ready? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tipperary Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 Egbert i dont know about Mick but i am ready and would also love to read this.john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 Egbert, Wonderful text! Did the German 'War-grave' commision arrange many such visits? Any idea what the two American warships were? Trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 February , 2012 With "Mick" I refer to Siege Gunner who speaks much better German than me. Trajan, these were private visits. The visitors later wrote a report to the VdK who printed them in their periodical (I received the snippets from VdK archives). This posting is just a test whether it can be understood here on GWF by some. I have two or three other travel reports from the 1920s but fear that they cannot be read here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 Egbert, When the printing is so clear and the language/grammar the text is written in so simple and straightforward - as it is in this case - I am certain many more Anglo/Francophile GWF members will get it if they apply themselves! (Half the time it's just a matter of remembering that: 'You must the verb at the end of the sentence PUT!' ) Tshcuss! Traian PS: Have to admit, though, that in my earlier career I did have to do a lot of reading of pre-1945 German texts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trajan Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 I have been trying to render this in English, but it is so beautifully written that I find my eyes constantly brimming - and I am not the emotional kind. Very briefly, it is the account of parents who at 70+ years travel from home to visit the grave of their son, a marine/sailor, who died in battle near Ostend. They talk most lovingly of how they met an American sailor, who had no German language, but when they showed him their photograph of their son, he saluted and said '(my) German comrade!'. They talk of the beauty of the graveyard - and how the chapel built there was bombed by the 'enemy'. And how the graves of everyone - Germans, French and British - are so carefully looked after. I could go on but it is really an incredibly and deep - almost poetic - piece of writing and so I will stop. Thank you again Egbert. Trajan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 Hi, This text is worth reading! A couple visits the grave of their son at the German cemetery of Leffinge, the cemetery is in a bad state, muddy ground, wooden crosses with text gone, no flowers or other decoartion at all, etc... the German couple even has to provide good ground for the grave of their son, all they want is that he would have a dignified grave. They also visit Oostend cemetery, which tells the same story. Only the British and French graves are well cared for. The couple also visits the place where their son was kia, the Hexenkessel (the Black Dune) at Lombardsijde. Human bones are still laying around... Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 4 February , 2012 ......Bevor we die, it was always our greatest desire to visit the last resting place of our beloved son. With god’s help we decided at age 70 to undertake the journey….. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 4 February , 2012 Share Posted 4 February , 2012 Those snippets are fascinating................ more please, remember nothing has defeated this forum and its members yet so get translating please! Many thanks Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/507/lef1.jpg/][/url] Uploaded with ImageShack.us The well maintained German cemetery at Leffinge during WWI Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/828/lef2.jpg/][/url] The entrance of the Leffinge German mil cemetery still exists, but the words above the entrance have been removed This must be the 'chapel' the couple tells about Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/40/oostende.jpg/][/url] The well maintained German military cemetery at Ostend during WWI, also visisted by the couple, the state of the German graves having shocked them. Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Brilliant pictures Eddy, as usual. Do you have any dates for these images by chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/828/lef2.jpg/][/url] The entrance of the Leffinge German mil cemetery still exists, but the words above the entrance have been removed This must be the 'chapel' the couple tells about Cnock This is the "Totenhaus" built by Hauptmann Löwenstein in 1915. Can we try to recover what was the inscription then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Text on Gedenkhalle: Niemand hat grössere Liebe denn die dass er sein Leben...fuer seine Bruder Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Dates picks: 1916-1917 Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 One of the original WWI glass windows in the 'Totenhaus' (no more existing) war time post card Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 For Egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cnock Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 URL=http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/844/lef2.jpg/][/url] present entrance 'Totenhaus' Leffinge Cnock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Text on Gedenkhalle: Niemand hat grössere Liebe denn die dass er sein Leben...fuer seine Bruder Cnock Thanks for the zoom. It says: NIEMAND HAT GRÖSSERE LIEBE DENN DIE DASS ER SEIN LEBEN LASSET FÜR SEINE BRÜDER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 5 February , 2012 Share Posted 5 February , 2012 I wonder why those words were taken away... Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 February , 2012 Author Share Posted 5 February , 2012 Here is a picture of Lessinge Totenhaus with German soldiers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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