KJames Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 It seems almost out of place on this thread to recommend serious reading but ... From the books on the link that Caryl posted, if I had to choose three to give a good overall view of nursing in the Great War (in relation to the B.E.F.) it would be: Fighting Different Wars, Janet Watson Containing Trauma, Christine Hallett More than Bombs and Bandages, Kirsty Harris Sue Thanks for this Sue, I haven't watched the series, but reading some of the comments on this thread has made me want to find out more about the subject. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 One recent observation is that HMS Belfast is a cruiser, not a battleship ... It seems to be increasingly common for people with limited knowledge of naval matters to use 'battleship' as a synonym for 'warship' or as a generic term for any 'big warship'. I saw the current HMS Ocean referred to as a 'battleship' recently (but can't remember where). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 Bit like TV news recently referring to a line of Russian BMPs on the Ukranian border as 'heavy armour' But I am way off topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick63 Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 This short 8 minute film manages to get across more information and raw emotion than they managed in the entire Crimson Field series. http://youtu.be/mPJ4JXp5wd8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulkheader Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 This short 8 minute film manages to get across more information and raw emotion than they managed in the entire Crimson Field series. http://youtu.be/mPJ4JXp5wd8 Sobering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 14 May , 2014 Share Posted 14 May , 2014 This short 8 minute film manages to get across more information and raw emotion than they managed in the entire Crimson Field series. http://youtu.be/mPJ4JXp5wd8 Spot on. Thanks. For those of you who might not have seen this : Sue Light giving a talk 'No Task Too Great: VADs in the Great War' http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N4fJY73Q_Uw The other night Sue was giving a talk at Mayfair library with Robert Ryan the author. Some of the abuse on Twitter aimed at those who dare to criticise TCF has been horrendous.(e.g. 'shut the .... up, ..........and write your own script') Some people do try the put the record straight, challenge the myths and write the true 'script' but unfortunately aren't listened to or even respected it seems. Christine Hallet, one of the historical advisors on the programme is giving a talk at the Florence Nightingale Museum tonight http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/what-s-on/veiled-warriors.html Should be interesting. Is anyone going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonraker Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 ... Some of the abuse on Twitter aimed at those who dare to criticise TCF has been horrendous.(e.g. 'shut the .... up, ..........and write your own script') Some people do try the put the record straight, challenge the myths and write the true 'script' but unfortunately aren't listened to or even respected it seems... I despair of some of the comments made by the public at large on other websites and social media about any sort of subject. In contrast the discussions here on the GWF about TCF and almost any subject are conducted (nearly always!) very reasonably and politely. And over on IMDB the threads are quite reasonable compared with many on that website. ("Anyone who thinks this is[n't] a great film is a *&%$.") In posts here and on IMDB, I myself have (politely, I hope) invited suggestions as to what non-stereotypical characters and plot-lines there might be, but very little has been forthcoming. Incidentally, when the series was announced, wasn't there talk of the hospital accommodating patients who were not British, which may have prompted the observation that each Allied nation had its own hospitals At least we've been spared the premature inclusion of any ANZAC soldiers, but perhaps a couple of Canadians and Indians could have been included without bending the facts too much; in the post-battle confusion they could have been mixed up with British casualties. So for that matter could have been a German, some of his uniform missing, the rest covered in blood and mud initially to hide his identity. This might have contributed more towards inclusivity than the slightly incongruous (but not impossible) presence of the black soldier and his father. And perhaps the RFC could have been featured? About 20 miles to the NE of Malmesbury (where much of TCF was filmed), lies Rendcomb Airfield, sometimes still billed as "RCF Rendcomb" to indicate its WWI heritage. I gather some original buildings remain in good shape, so there could have been some flying scenes, and/or a pilot crashing near the hospital and perhaps getting involved with one of the nurses. I AM trying to be constructive ... Moonraker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Filsell Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 As far as this series is concerned, de-structive is far more pro-constructive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripeyman Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 Bit like TV news recently referring to a line of Russian BMPs on the Ukranian border as 'heavy armour' But I am way off topic. I heard that....and D Day 'celebrations' instead of 'commemorations', sorry mods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBully Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 Thanks Caryl for the link to Sue Light's talk at the WFA AGM in 2012. I was present somewhere in the audience and hadn't realised that the film was on 'You Tube'. It's a great introduction to the work of the VAD nurses during the Great War and a fitting tribute to them. Regards Michael Bully <<<<<<For those of you who might not have seen this : Sue Light giving a talk 'No Task Too Great: VADs in the Great War' >>>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 15 May , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 May , 2014 A letter from Kate Tompkins, Chief Executive, Cavell Nurses’ Trust published in today's Daily Telegraph, 'BBC drama fails to reflect Edith Cavell’s courage' NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 15 May , 2014 Share Posted 15 May , 2014 Blimey, Nigel - I'd just copied that letter ready to post! Great minds, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 15 May , 2014 Author Share Posted 15 May , 2014 NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 Blimey, Nigel - I'd just copied that letter ready to post! Great minds, eh? I had already posted this letter on post 672... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 There's a letter in the Times, where the scriptwriter defends her introduction of Edith Cavell into the story. I can't see it all because I don't subscribe http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article4090900.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_05_15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoppage Drill Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 I had already posted this letter on post 672... Then shall ye also be included in the Pantheon of Great Minds. Maybe contribute to the Le Cateau thread . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 There's a letter in the Times, where the scriptwriter defends her introduction of Edith Cavell into the story. I can't see it all because I don't subscribe http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/letters/article4090900.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_05_15 This is it.... The scriptwriter of The Crimson Field defends her dramatic introduction of a real-life heroine into her story Sir, Further to the letter (May 14) from Kate Tompkins, of the Cavell Nurses Trust, Nurse Joan Livesey’s story in The Crimson Field was inspired by the famous quote of Edith Cavell’s inscribed on her statue in St Martin’s Place. That quote was also shown on screen before the final credits: “Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.” It was vital to me to include Edith Cavell. I felt passionately that her shocking execution should be part of the final episode, but this was not, as Ms Tompkins suggests, merely so that one character could deliver an anti-war, anti-establishment message. That character, Roland Brett, displays his growing doubts about the war from the first episode. When he expresses his “anti-war, anti-establishment” opinion he has only recently received the news of his son’s death. Brett’s opinion that an executed nurse “will re-ignite the fervour” of the war was subversive and dangerous, just as any opinions that were critical of the war would have been at the time. Sarah Phelps (writer/creator of The Crimson Field) BBC, London W12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarylW Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 Thank you Ghazala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 16 May , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2014 I had already posted this letter on post 672... Ah, but the version Steven and I were looking at was from the Daily Telegraph not The Times ; wonder what other papers carried Kate Tompkins' letter! NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anneca Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 I had given up reading this thread several days ago but decided to give it a glance today. I am so pleased that I did as I came across Sue Light's wonderful talk. Thank you for posting Caryl and a thoroughly enjoyable talk Sue. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelS Posted 16 May , 2014 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2014 And, not unsurprisingly, Sarah Phelps also has a reply published in today's Telegraph Click (scroll down) NigelS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithmroberts Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 Her letter in the Telegraph was not helped by the intelligent letter printed below it. Keiht Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Light Posted 16 May , 2014 Share Posted 16 May , 2014 I had given up reading this thread several days ago but decided to give it a glance today. I am so pleased that I did as I came across Sue Light's wonderful talk. Thank you for posting Caryl and a thoroughly enjoyable talk Sue. Anne Thanks Anne - actually I've never been able to watch it through myself, but I do remember what was said on account of having been there at the time Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenneth505 Posted 18 May , 2014 Share Posted 18 May , 2014 The six episodes were terribly discouraging. We hope there is not another season, but... we'll watch cuz how many train wrecks do you get to see in one life time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghazala Posted 18 May , 2014 Share Posted 18 May , 2014 I am lost, adrift. What is there to do at 9 pm tonight now that TCF has finished! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now