pudsey63 Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 5 minutes ago, AlanCurragh said: We must have been very close - I was at the very end of the row directly across from the moustachioed officer! Were you the jolly group who took a picture for me and my friend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 4 hours ago, AlanCurragh said: Possibly, but the rain has eased off at the end of the ceremony. There were plenty of buses - the main problem as I saw it was that instead of distinct, separate queues to each of the bus destinations (park and ride, Albert station, Picardie station), there was pretty much a free for all, with a huge surge of people held behind a rope with some British soldiers gamely trying to impose order. Foreigners are never as good at queuing as the British! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 1 hour ago, Seadog said: One of my favourites on the day.......video Nurse Olive Dent https://www.flickr.com/photos/glosters/27954356031/in/dateposted/ Norman The lady doing the reading was excellent, I wondered with her being a member of FANY whether she might have been an actress but could just be experienced in public speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sally B Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 (edited) What an amazing day Friday was, the organisation was superb (well nearly!) the whole ceremony felt so personal, not contrived or staged. I feel really privileged to have have been a part of it and the memory will live with me for a long, long time. Thank you CWGC and anyone else who had a hand in the organisation. Did anyone else hear the two well dressed American (?) young men get off a shuttle bus about 6.30am and ask in a loud voice 'Where is the Menin Gate?' The comments they got from the people around were worth recording, several people were talking about it in the refreshment tent at breakfast time. Edited 4 July , 2016 by Sally B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 I thought that the Thiepval service was exceeded me expectations on all levels and was probably the best event of the centenary period so far. The wide range of readings and music were well chosen; I have only ever heard La Madelon sung by a few female voices as part of the commemorations at Ethe on 22 August, to hear it sung by a French military choir gave it a completely different impact. I thought the BBC coverage was excellent too, with both the camera panoramas and the range of views and insight of the contributors been the highlights. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 2 July , 2016 Share Posted 2 July , 2016 58 minutes ago, SteveMarsdin said: I thought that the Thiepval service was exceeded me expectations on all levels and was probably the best event of the centenary period so far. The wide range of readings and music were well chosen; I have only ever heard La Madelon sung by a few female voices as part of the commemorations at Ethe on 22 August, to hear it sung by a French military choir gave it a completely different impact. I thought the BBC coverage was excellent too, with both the camera panoramas and the range of views and insight of the contributors been the highlights. Steve I'm with you on this one Steve; I thought the rendition of Quand Madelon was fantastic, it seemed to change the tempo of the ceremony. The audience seemed to pick up on it. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian J Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Does anyone know of a full length video of the ceremony? - Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 Not yet as far as I am aware Jordan, I do hope that the BBC make a DVD of the ceremony and include other events together with music, poetry and the experiences of the veterans for they, the BBC have a wealth of material available and it would be a great shame if we were not able to see such remarkable national commemorations again. Here is a "taster" Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffsyeoman Posted 3 July , 2016 Share Posted 3 July , 2016 My only gripe was that they seemed to use the whole of Abide With Me, a hymn I profoundly hate. My father wanted it played at his funeral; Mum could not disagree but also hates it so it only compounded the misery. Yes, that is a purely personal and selfish view; would have swallowed a shorter rendition. And the tenor wandering around the headstones could have put a tie on.. I was cheered up, though, by a good rendition of "Voice of the Guns". I have it on reasonable authority that the dash for the transport meant that organisers, attendants and clearer uppers got slightly more and better lunch due to the lower uptake catering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian J Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 21 hours ago, Seadog said: Not yet as far as I am aware Jordan, I do hope that the BBC make a DVD of the ceremony and include other events together with music, poetry and the experiences of the veterans for they, the BBC have a wealth of material available and it would be a great shame if we were not able to see such remarkable national commemorations again. Here is a "taster" Aftermath by Siegfried Sassoon Norman Thank you Norman. I very much hope the BBC puts together a DVD as you have described. Fingers crossed as well for a uk AND north american format too! The reading of Aftermath was very well done, they sure chose great speakers for the ceremony. - Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannyboy1807 Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 The whole event was just brilliant nothing fancy just perfect. the Welsh choir singing keep the home fires burning like everyone has said the Lady who read Nurse Dents reading was brilliant and Tom Adlam's son, even the young yorkshireman who fumbled a little bit just made that reading a little bit more real for me. Charles Dance was just brilliant and the perfect person as the narrator and him reading Sigfried Sassoon's Aftermath was very moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralphed Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 All in all we had a brilliant day and wouldn't have missed it for the world. We sat next to some very irreverent old soldiers who made us laugh till we cried with comments and stories i couldn't possibly relay for fear of getting banned from this site. Leaving the site was a nightmare and could of been avoided if barriers had been erected (they were there but not in situ) and one steward with a loudhailer gave instructions as to which destination would be leaving first. It was a good job the army lads were there and leaving the airport was just as difficult. Would i do it all again? You bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadog Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 My short video REMEMBER https://www.flickr.com/photos/glosters/27441875424/in/photostream/ Norman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsanders Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 The BBC coverage was excellent, I particularly enjoyed the drone footage hovering over the memorial, it gave a great perspective and sense of scale. This got me wondering whether anyone has recorded POV footage of an 'advance' from the British lines up to their 'objectives'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 12 minutes ago, timsanders said: The BBC coverage was excellent, I particularly enjoyed the drone footage hovering over the memorial, it gave a great perspective and sense of scale. This got me wondering whether anyone has recorded POV footage of an 'advance' from the British lines up to their 'objectives'? I don't think they used a drone on Friday, there was a camera on a long boom that was occasionally visible in the background. There might have been drone footage taken in advance though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsanders Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 16 minutes ago, mbriscoe said: I don't think they used a drone on Friday, there was a camera on a long boom that was occasionally visible in the background. There might have been drone footage taken in advance though. Yes, I think it was the pre-recorded VTs rather than the live broadcast, I imagine the noise would have distracted from the occasion somewhat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 38 minutes ago, timsanders said: Yes, I think it was the pre-recorded VTs rather than the live broadcast, I imagine the noise would have distracted from the occasion somewhat! They are fairly quiet but it would be rather embarrassing if one came down into the audience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbriscoe Posted 4 July , 2016 Share Posted 4 July , 2016 I sent these comments to Jordan, might be of interest to others overseas. Quote There were several programmes Thursday evening The Vigil from 19:30 to 21:30 - arrival of the Queen at Westminster Abbey, service and start of Vigil followed by the start of Vigil at Thiepval Then Friday morning Zero Hour 07:00 - 07:44 - 100 gun salute, end of Vigil at the Abbey and other places around the UK with the blowing of whistles Thiepval - 09:15 - about 12:45 - whole of the event at Thiepval They covered the parade and service in Manchester on the BBC News channel, parade through the city, National service in the Cathedral. There was then a highlights programme 23:15 - 00:45 covering all these events The BBC did very well considering that they are heavily committed to Wimbledon at the moment, otherwise I am sure the afternoon service would have been on BBC1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJanman Posted 5 July , 2016 Share Posted 5 July , 2016 I was there and thought the ceremony was perfect. Leaving the site almost ruined the whole day for me. Far too much waiting around - at the memorial waiting for the coach to arrive. On the coach which sat for ages between the memorial and the train station, and then we couldn't get off the coach until people on other coaches had gone through customs. Then on the Eurostar waiting for everyone to board. I was becoming very twitchy and restless. Looking back through it was a big undertaking for them to get so many people away at the same time, and especially having to deal with all the security issues. I am so glad I went - it is an event I will cherish forever. 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