The Big Question pondered in a trench

[StuartAB]

Just wondered if anyone knows the original source of Roach's words, please?

Thanks,

Stuart

[Guest seahorse55]

Saw your post today and I have some good news! My step-mother is Matthews niece and I have a copy of Matthews War diary where this source comes from. It is a fascinating account of his time in the Royal Engineers as a temporary Captain. He was awarded the M.C in April 1916 but unfortunately died 2nd July of the same year. The diary is also held by the National Archives, Kew, Ref WO 339/40021. I hope this will be of some help.

Lynne

[WhiteStarLine]

Nice post (#1 from 2008) and good to see a connection pop up after all of these years.

Being an enthusiastic amateur astronomer, I always like to check what he might have seen, given a clear night. Assuming he was in Arras (but broadly true for Flanders / Somme region), in the early evening, an almost full moon would be setting over Mons. Due to a well known optical illusion, a full moon close to the horizon appears very large to the eye and with the ever-persistent artillery smoke and haze, it was probably a distinct reddish hue. To be a tad cliched, it would probably have been a blood-red moon. Mars would be just above the moon, over Mons, its faint reddish colour slightly drowned out by the moon's light. Saturn, always a noticeable yellow, would be halfway between the horizon and the zenith (highest point), shining above Cambrai. Twisting around towards Amiens, he would notice the brightest star, Sirius above the horizon, used by navigators for thousands of years in the early dawn and the origin of the term 'dog tired' [alpha Canis Major, or dog star]. Continuing towards Abbeville, Jupiter would be well above the horizon, a strong steady yellow glow amidst a sea of twinkling stars.

It must have been inspirational, to see the heavens under clear conditions albeit under circumstances not one of us would want to share.