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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Who is This ? ? ?


Stoppage Drill

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27 minutes ago, Knotty said:

Well that took a while, knew it was Churchill, but spent ages finding out it he wrote it on  5 August 1951 in the Observer…..back to the task in hand.

And this post has just put me to a Major General, look at Reason to be Cheerful😁

Yes, this is said to have been WSC’s robust maxim. One can imagine how it might have been to serve as his interpreter.

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No takers for Colonel Churchill’s interpreter, I see. Here he describes the start of his war in his 1944 Memoirs:

”I went to put on my uniform which my father wanted to see. The Infantry still wore blue tunics and red trousers. Mine had been got out of a wardrobe the day before and smelled of camphor. The putters felt uncomfortable on my legs. My father looked me over with the severity of an old soldier. ‘You must polish up your buttons.’ He was sad at my leaving but full of hope for France and happy to see a son of his taking part in the war of revenge of which he had dreamed ever since 1871.”

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Just now, Uncle George said:

Colonel Churchill’s

Haha, that definitely puts him in WW1 territory, so I’m off to have a quick look at WSC memoirs…back in a few minutes.

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19 minutes ago, Knotty said:

That didn’t take to long

It is Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, writer and interpreter, better known as André Maurois his pseudonym.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/André_Maurois

Yes indeed. He wrote a very well-received novelisation of his experiences as an interpreter and liaison officer in ‘The Silence of Colonel Bramble’ (1918). His autobiography, ‘Call No Man Happy’ contains the following affecting passage. He is describing Loos:

” … The contrast between the calm of the khaki-clad soldiers, who stood at the cross-roads directing traffic with the calm gestures of policemen in Piccadilly Circus, and the danger of their position, seemed to me beautiful and worthy of being recorded; sadder, but less beautiful, was the contrast later on between the appearance of the General on the morning of battle, very courteous and dignified, in a uniform resplendent with red and gold, and the return that same evening of his corpse stained with blood and mire.”

Passages are quoted in Peter Vansittart’s ‘Voices From the Great War’ (1981).

 

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16 hours ago, Uncle George said:

Continuing a sub-theme of sorts:

Your picture appears to help solve a question asked in another part of the forum, so interested to see what the answer is :)

 

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5 hours ago, Andrew Upton said:

Your picture appears to help solve a question asked in another part of the forum, so interested to see what the answer is :)

 

Like Andrew Morver this chap was in Churchill’s orbit during the Great War. And in his case, for many years thereafter.

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Is he the one that was his 2iC in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, became a politician ?……can’t think of the name

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12 minutes ago, Knotty said:

Is he the one that was his 2iC in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, became a politician ?……can’t think of the name

Yes - Sir Archibald Sinclair, later Viscount Thurso; future leader of the Liberal Party and Second war Secretary of State for Air.

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  • 2 weeks later...
26 minutes ago, Knotty said:

Any takers yet or do you need another clue?

I think I know who he is, though my picture of him is quite different. Without giving too much away, would Amiens have any relevance?

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5 minutes ago, neverforget said:

I think I know who he is, though my picture of him is quite different. Without giving too much away, would Amiens have any relevance?

Amiens does not feature in the articles I have about him, that’s not to say the city has some involvement somewhere in his history.

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Just now, Knotty said:

Amiens does not feature in the articles I have about him, that’s not to say the city has some involvement somewhere in his history.

It must be a different chap then. I will post him after yours has been solved so you can see a certain similarity.

Back to square one for me then; i.e. no idea.

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3 hours ago, neverforget said:

Back to square one for me then; i.e. no idea.

At least you've left the square and had to return.

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Hi guys, I need to fill up on sun first before starting answering... 

greetz from my Mum's verandah... 23 degrees here in sunny spain... I'll be around for a whole week of rest and mum's cooking!! 

M.

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Lucky you! Enjoy your break. 

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1 minute ago, neverforget said:

Lucky you! Enjoy your break. 

I won't be far away... am going to put this week to profit to read up on my girls research and probably present you with the Etaples pics I still owe you, a year after starting that particular cemetery ! 

M.

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19 hours ago, Knotty said:

Clue, the roses

John McCormack? -  If the "Roses are shining in Picardy"

 

 

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1 minute ago, Gunner Hall said:

John McCormack? -  If the "Roses are shining in Picardy"

 

 

I went down that road too GH, but for me it led to a cul de sac. 

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1 minute ago, neverforget said:

I went down that road too GH, but for me it led to a cul de sac. 

That's me flushed dans les toilettes, then. 

 

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