Who is This ? ? ?

[David Ridgus]

Uncle George

Has your poet disappeared?

David

[helpjpl]

Playing catch up again. After my four nights stint, it`s now four days off, and so back to W.I.T.

Another V.C. Citation on the way for "Fast Eddie", who has gobbled up my last two, but in the meantime, I don`t think we`ve had this tosh yet:

Just to avoid confusion; this is not a V.C. wallah, but he was an inventor. Enlisted in a sportsmen`s btn.

hbb.jpg

It's Lt-Colonel Edward Frank Harrison, (1869-1918), chemist and inventor of the first serviceable gas mask.

He made repeated attempts to enlist in the forces and succeeded, aged 47, in joining the 23rd (1st Sportsman's) battalion, Royal Fusiliers, as a private.

He succumbed to influenza on 4 November 1918 and was buried with full military honours in Brompton cemetery.

[neverforget]

Well spotted. Edward Harrison it is. Good link to him here, including part of a letter which Churchill sent to his widow. It is thought his early death was due to his experiments with gas in his research.

http://www.shp-asso.org/medias/docs/1-L026-EDWARD-FRANK-HARRISON.pdf

[neverforget]

As threatened promised, another W.V.C.C.I.T.???

on his own initiative, stood on the parapet of an enemy trench and, under heavy machine-gun fire and bomb attacks, repeatedly sounded the "Charge" thereby rallying many men of various units who, having lost their leaders were wavering and beginning to retire. He also, during the day, carried messages over fire-swept ground.

[Fattyowls]

As threatened promised, another W.V.C.C.I.T.???

on his own initiative, stood on the parapet of an enemy trench and, under heavy machine-gun fire and bomb attacks, repeatedly sounded the "Charge" thereby rallying many men of various units who, having lost their leaders were wavering and beginning to retire. He also, during the day, carried messages over fire-swept ground.

NF, haven't a clue but I'm always interested by VC citations so I await the solution with interest. This post is really just an excuse to wish you many happy returns.

Pete

[neverforget]

Very kind Pete, cheers.

A clue might be that he was unarmed at the time.

[Fattyowls]

Would this be Walter Ritchie VC? I've just had a circuit of cyberspace and it took me to a previous post; did he play the charge on the bugle despite being a drummer. Interesting story; I watched the programme on the pipers a couple of days ago and found that both illuminating and moving.

Pete.

[neverforget]

You got him Pete. Extraordinary story, and equally amazing is the fact that he survived the war.

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85960

[neverforget]

I`ll try you with another. This chap "almost single-handedly" destroyed four German posts in an hour, accounting for more than 30 enemy soldiers in the process.

W.V.C.C.I.T???

"For most conspicuous bravery when with a Lewis gun accompanying the first wave of the assault he encountered an enemy party sniping the advancing troops from a shell-hole.

??? immediately rushed the position and accounted for nine of the enemy, and cleared the way for the advance. On two subsequent occasions he performed similar acts of valour, and each time accounted for a number of the enemy.

During operations he was directed to a position from which an enemy machine gun was being fired on our troops. He located and killed the gunner, and the remainder of the enemy party ran into a dugout close by. From this shelter they were dislodged by a bomb, and ten of the enemy ran out. These he disposed of.

This non-commissioned officer actually accounted for over thirty of the enemy.

He displayed an absolute fearlessness in making his way ahead of the first wave of the assault, and the fine example which he set ensured the success of the attack against most determined opposition.

[David Ridgus]

Inmates and Witters

I thought perhaps I'd take advantage of a relatively slow period on the thread to update you on the progress of the catalogue of people featured on WIT.

I am currently on page 170 and have catalogued 500 folk. Although it is quite hard going as a task, what keeps me going is actually rereading the posts and revelling again in the fascinating stories that have emerged. There have been so many that I have forgotten already and it was nice to be reminded of them. In the section I did today (basically March) there were three that stood out and I think bear repeating:

Caryl told us about this chap:

A physicist called Henry Moseley, he was killed at Gallipoli aged 27. He was on course to win the Nobel prize in 1916 because the research he had already done had transformed the periodic table and laid the groundwork for Rutherford and Bohr's work on atoms. Isaac Asimov said that his death" may have been the single most costly death of the war to mankind generally."

His death led to a policy change whereby no scientist could volunteer for front line duty.

Stoppage Drill posted the story of this fellow:

He was Grahame Donald. A Scottish Rugby international he was a pilot in the RFC and then in the Second World War rose to AVM. However the story SD told us was of Donald looping the loop in his Sopwith Camel only for his harness to break at the top of the loop and him falling out. He fell some 2000 feet before incredibly his Camel, which had continued the loop appeared beneath him and he fell back into the cockpit and made "an unusually good landing". SD commented on how lucky he was. Steven Broomfield's laconic response was that had he been really lucky the harness wouldn't have broken.

I posted a picture of this sportsman:

This was Tommy Armour the golfer. Known as the Silver Scot he emigrated to America after the war and won three majors before becoming a noted teacher. He wrote a book called "How to play your best Golf all the time" which sold in its millions and remained the best selling coaching manual well into the 1970s.

I knew nothing of his war service until researching for the posting. He rose from Private to Major in the Tank Corps and ended the war with a metal plate in his head and another in his arm as a result of wounds. He also spend some time blind in one eye after a mustard gas attack. No wonder he was legendary for his relaxed style on the golf course. After those experiences what was the pressure of a golf tournament?

Other WIT moments I came across today. Post 3651 was when it was first asked (by SD) how many pictures had been posted. In post 3654 Liz suggested I might like to supply an index of names: foolishly I agreed.

Post 4042 saw Mr Broomfield's campaign against the use of hash tags begin

Post 4184 was the first suggestion that all French Generals look the same

During this period notable new Witters were Ian A and neverforget.

It was also the month when Ph0ebus's clues reached their apogee of obfuscation. Here are a selection:

"The fate of my fellow was greatly influenced by another fellow who appeared on this thread previously" (at this point we had already 395 pictures)

"He has a sizeable file at the National Archives UK"

"I have a personal, family connection to this man (though he is not related to me in any way)"

"One word: science"

and of course the immortal post 4069: "My chap's photo is available in the collection of the Library of Congress" (currently the Library of Congress has 14.7 million photographic prints)

Finally March was the month my daughter was hit by a taxi. The kind comments that the folk on the thread sent me at the time and the subsequent enquiries as to her progress meant a very great deal to me and my family and it's good to have the opportunity to thank you again (she was formally signed off by the Consultant last week by the way).

The Mods assured me that it was not the gathering of statistics that saw our temporary banishment to Skindles so I will continue with the task and will update you when I reach 750 and then at the end before disseminating the list to those interested.

David

[Fattyowls]

Only eight months in and we are already releasing the greatest hits. I appreciate all your efforts David and we owe you a debt of gratitude; especially for bringing Daniel's greatest clues together in one place.

Pete.

[neverforget]

David, I think your time would be much better spent catching up with any odd jobs around the house and garden.

Only joking of course. Fantastic effort, and very much appreciated.

By the way, I`m sorry to hear of your daughter`s accident, but am pleased to see that she has come through it.

[Ghazala]

I`ll try you with another. This chap "almost single-handedly" destroyed four German posts in an hour, accounting for more than 30 enemy soldiers in the process.

W.V.C.C.I.T???

"For most conspicuous bravery when with a Lewis gun accompanying the first wave of the assault he encountered an enemy party sniping the advancing troops from a shell-hole.

??? immediately rushed the position and accounted for nine of the enemy, and cleared the way for the advance. On two subsequent occasions he performed similar acts of valour, and each time accounted for a number of the enemy.

During operations he was directed to a position from which an enemy machine gun was being fired on our troops. He located and killed the gunner, and the remainder of the enemy party ran into a dugout close by. From this shelter they were dislodged by a bomb, and ten of the enemy ran out. These he disposed of.

This non-commissioned officer actually accounted for over thirty of the enemy.

He displayed an absolute fearlessness in making his way ahead of the first wave of the assault, and the fine example which he set ensured the success of the attack against most determined opposition.

Not so much WIT, more like Where's Wally!

Inmates and Witters

I thought perhaps I'd take advantage of a relatively slow period on the thread to update you on the progress of the catalogue of people featured on WIT.

I am currently on page 170 and have catalogued 500 folk. Although it is quite hard going as a task, what keeps me going is actually rereading the posts and revelling again in the fascinating stories that have emerged. There have been so many that I have forgotten already and it was nice to be reminded of them. In the section I did today (basically March) there were three that stood out and I think bear repeating:

Caryl told us about this chap:

Moseley.jpg

A physicist called Henry Moseley, he was killed at Gallipoli aged 27. He was on course to win the Nobel prize in 1916 because the research he had already done had transformed the periodic table and laid the groundwork for Rutherford and Bohr's work on atoms. Isaac Asimov said that his death" may have been the single most costly death of the war to mankind generally."

His death led to a policy change whereby no scientist could volunteer for front line duty.

Stoppage Drill posted the story of this fellow:

Donald.jpg

He was Grahame Donald. A Scottish Rugby international he was a pilot in the RFC and then in the Second World War rose to AVM. However the story SD told us was of Donald looping the loop in his Sopwith Camel only for his harness to break at the top of the loop and him falling out. He fell some 2000 feet before incredibly his Camel, which had continued the loop appeared beneath him and he fell back into the cockpit and made "an unusually good landing". SD commented on how lucky he was. Steven Broomfield's laconic response was that had he been really lucky the harness wouldn't have broken.

I posted a picture of this sportsman:

dri 89.jpg

This was Tommy Armour the golfer. Known as the Silver Scot he emigrated to America after the war and won three majors before becoming a noted teacher. He wrote a book called "How to play your best Golf all the time" which sold in its millions and remained the best selling coaching manual well into the 1970s.

I knew nothing of his war service until researching for the posting. He rose from Private to Major in the Tank Corps and ended the war with a metal plate in his head and another in his arm as a result of wounds. He also spend some time blind in one eye after a mustard gas attack. No wonder he was legendary for his relaxed style on the golf course. After those experiences what was the pressure of a golf tournament?

Other WIT moments I came across today. Post 3651 was when it was first asked (by SD) how many pictures had been posted. In post 3654 Liz suggested I might like to supply an index of names: foolishly I agreed.

Post 4042 saw Mr Broomfield's campaign against the use of hash tags begin

Post 4184 was the first suggestion that all French Generals look the same

During this period notable new Witters were Ian A and neverforget.

It was also the month when Ph0ebus's clues reached their apogee of obfuscation. Here are a selection:

"The fate of my fellow was greatly influenced by another fellow who appeared on this thread previously" (at this point we had already 395 pictures)

"He has a sizeable file at the National Archives UK"

"I have a personal, family connection to this man (though he is not related to me in any way)"

"One word: science"

and of course the immortal post 4069: "My chap's photo is available in the collection of the Library of Congress" (currently the Library of Congress has 14.7 million photographic prints)

Finally March was the month my daughter was hit by a taxi. The kind comments that the folk on the thread sent me at the time and the subsequent enquiries as to her progress meant a very great deal to me and my family and it's good to have the opportunity to thank you again (she was formally signed off by the Consultant last week by the way).

The Mods assured me that it was not the gathering of statistics that saw our temporary banishment to Skindles so I will continue with the task and will update you when I reach 750 and then at the end before disseminating the list to those interested.

David

Fascinating David. Thank you for doing this. So pleased to hear your daughter has recovered.

Eddie

[neverforget]

Not so much WIT, more like Where's Wally!

That`s good enough for me, Eddie. It would seem that you are invincible on these, but I will try again soon.

Digger, Walter Peeler, as seen here:

Please note; this is not a W.I.T. but a picture of my last W.V.C.C.I.T. effort.

[neverforget]

This one is a W.I.T.

Royal connection.

[CarylW]

Was he an equerry to the Prince of Wales NF? Looks very like Major the Hon. Cadogan. Son of Earl Cadogan. Killed in action commanding the 10th Hussars in place of the Colonel who had been wounded. (previous WIT of mine) Bearing in mind, if it isn't him that I'm rubbish at uniforms and badges!

(Happy belated birthday for yesterday)

[Ron Clifton]

This one is a W.I.T.

rf (450x640).jpg

Royal connection.

Fergus Bowes-Lyon?

Ron

[David Ridgus]

A fine selection of moustaches recently NF, well played.

Another Royal connection with this gentleman. Identification should not be a be a problem, but what was his royal link this side of the channel:

David

[David Ridgus]

As promised the first of a few WAIWAs from Barbara Tuchman's masterpiece 'The Guns of August'

Who is she writing about and what is the occasion:

'he must convince the present, measure up to the past, and speak to posterity.'

David

[CarylW]

Sir Edward Grey? His 3rd August speech in the house of commons.

[David Ridgus]

Sir Edward Grey? His 3rd August speech in the house of commons.

Spot on Caryl.

The following is the full paragraph from which the extract was drawn. I would not normally quote at such length on a thread but it is such a brilliant piece of writing I could not resist. Not only is it phrased in a way that would have Gibbon purring, but it sums up the government's, and particularly Grey's, position superbly.

'At three o’clock that afternoon of August 3, Grey was due in Parliament to make the government’s first official and public statement on the crisis. All Europe, as well as all England, was hanging on it. Grey’s task was to bring his country into war and bring her in united. He had to carry with him his own, traditionally pacifist, party. He had to explain to the oldest and most practiced parliamentary body in the world how Britain was committed to support France by virtue of something that was not a commitment. He must present Belgium as the cause without hiding France as the basic cause; he must appeal to Britain’s honour while making it clear that Britain’s interest was the deciding factor; he must stand where a tradition of debate on foreign affairs had flourished for three hundred years and, without the brilliance of Burke or the force of Pitt, without Canning’s mastery or Palmerston’s jaunty nerve, without the rhetoric of Gladstone or the wit of Disraeli, justify the course of British foreign policy under his stewardship and the war it could not prevent. He must convince the present, measure up to the past, and speak to posterity.'

David

[neverforget]

Fergus Bowes-Lyon?

Ron

The very same, Ron. Well spotted. The Queen Mother`s brother, or our present Queen`s uncle.

[neverforget]

A fine selection of moustaches recently NF, well played.

Another Royal connection with this gentleman. Identification should not be a be a problem, but what was his royal link this side of the channel:

dri 245.jpg

David

I knew who he was, but didn`t know about his Royal connection until I looked him up.

He`s Crown Prince Rupprecht, of course, and his connection was that he was claimant to the throne of England in the Jacobite succession.

[Fattyowls]

'he must convince the present, measure up to the past, and speak to posterity.'

So no pressure then. A fantastic piece of prose which now means I'm going to have to put this one on the 1914 reading list along with Chris' recommendation of the Senior book and your elder daughter's suggestion. Thanks a bunch; it was bad enough when it was just Hastings (Jim as opposed to sirmax) recommending tomes, now your all at it.......

Further to Fergus Bowes-Lyon, his name is comemorated twice at present which was a fact that I was unaware of until I made a slightly embarrasing discovery at Quarry Cemetery last September. I pointed out Fergus Bowes-Lyon's name on the Memorial to the Missing at Dud corner and then we went off via Hulluch to Quarry Cemetery.

[Fattyowls]

....at Quarry Cemetery I was drawn to a very new looking stone on the left and who should it be? The story of how the family worked out where he must lie is very interesting and I am sure it's been recounted on the forum.

Pete.