Morance Posted 21 November , 2023 Share Posted 21 November , 2023 Thx Mark for 21th November ; nothing for 20th November i? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 21 November , 2023 Author Share Posted 21 November , 2023 The diary entry for 20th November consists of a description of a discussion in the Officers' Mess about polygamy. I thought I would spare Forum Pals from that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morance Posted 21 November , 2023 Share Posted 21 November , 2023 10 minutes ago, Mark Hone said: The diary entry for 20th November consists of a description of a discussion in the Officers' Mess about polygamy. I thought I would spare Forum Pals from that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 21 November , 2023 Share Posted 21 November , 2023 On 19/11/2023 at 11:12, Morance said: Thanks a lot, Brian ; very interesting, with the hour of the last shots thx again, very appreciated Sébastien I can not read it properly, it might be ten o clock but I think it is two. The War Diary records that the Germans retired in the early morning and patrols later reached some high ground before being informed at 10.15 that the Armistice would come into effect at 11. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Posted 25 November , 2023 Share Posted 25 November , 2023 Thank you , Mark, for the further extracts from Floyd's diary. He is indeed a little ambivalent about Stockwell, as he was about Best-Dunkley, who seems to have been rather similar in some ways. He seems to have been able to relate quite well to both men when they were busy falling out with everyone else around them - I am not sure whether this is entirely to his credit or not! On 21/11/2023 at 15:18, brianmorris547 said: I can not read it properly, it might be ten o clock but I think it is two. I agree that it is horribly difficult to read. It is a pity that it is that passage, of all passages, that has lost definition. So far as I can make out the all imprtant sentences read: "The last shots they fired at ten o'clock on 11th November, when they stormed (?) Ath and captured it. Later in the morning they were stopped by the Armistice at 11 o'clock on the road to Brussels" I am certain about the words "11 o'clock", which are anyway what you would expect in the context, and I am pretty sure about the word "Later", so I do think that it is "ten" rather than two, though without the surrounding words I would probably have plumped for "two". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinec Posted 20 December , 2023 Share Posted 20 December , 2023 Hello all I am a friend of @christiandup. He has been facing health issues and recently underwent surgery for a brain lesion. The operation went well, and he is recovering nicely. However, starting from December 26th, he will undergo chemotherapy sessions. We hope everything goes well for him. He asked me from his hospital bed to share with you guys the following: This picture has been taken on November 11th. Unfortunately, there was some vandalism and some crosses has been stolen. Thank you to Maryse and her kids for fixing the mess in the cemetary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 20 December , 2023 Admin Share Posted 20 December , 2023 Welcome to the forum. I’m very sorry to read this news. Please pass on my best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 20 December , 2023 Share Posted 20 December , 2023 (edited) I hope that christiandup continues to recover well and that he will be with his family over Christmas and throughout the new year. The photograph is very moving and it is heart warming to see the care that the graves of British soldiers from the Great War have received from everyone there. Thank you. Edited 20 December , 2023 by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 20 December , 2023 Author Share Posted 20 December , 2023 (edited) Please give @christiandup my very best wishes for a speedy recovery. I shall never forget the hospitality he and his friends showed us on our two school Battlefields Tour visits to Irchonwelz and Ath. Edited 3 January by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Posted 24 December , 2023 Share Posted 24 December , 2023 I too am very sorry to hear of @christiandups ill health, and wish him well for the chemo after Christmas - never a pleasant experience, but hopefully it may do its job, and the side effects may be kept to a minimum. I was sorry too to learn about the vandalism in the cemetery, but thank you for posting the photograph taken on 11 November, and it is good to know that Maryse and her family have taken the time and trouble to tidy up after the vandalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianmorris547 Posted 11 January Share Posted 11 January On 20/11/2023 at 14:44, Mark Hone said: Yes I recall that passage from 'At Ypres...' and it is an example, like the Ath railway incident, of Stockwell lambasting another officer publicly and unfairly, in Floyd's view. Perhaps some indication of Floyd's slightly ambivalent attitude to General Stockwell is given in his account of a training exercise on 7th November 1918, as 'Stockwell's Force' was preparing for its advance: 'We had a big scheme this morning under General Stockwell. He was, as usual, storming all round and putting people out of action.' Floyd and his platoon were 'put out of action', i.e. made casualties, quite early in the exercise and were just left hanging around: 'Stockwell then came on the scene and Chute (the Brigade Major) told him what we were. “People are wandering aimlessly up and down." exclaimed the General with a shrug of despair. Then he got off his horse and had a friendly chat with me. He told me to fall the ‘casualties’ out in a field by the roadside and let them sit down and smoke. He is very decent with me; and there is something magnetic about his personality. In short he is a great man. A few minutes later he called for a conference of all the officers in the force. Then he addressed us and criticized the carrying out of the scheme. He ticked off Major Boddington pretty roundly and on one occasion addressed him as ‘My Dear Boy!’ He also had an argument with Colonel Brighten about Lewis Guns and closed it by exclaiming that ‘At any rate, I won’t allow it; so there’s an end of it.” Stockwell never allows anyone to forget that he is-General Stockwell.' ' Mark I found this article in the Heywood Advertiser 14/02/1919 which may interest you and Tricia @A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Brian BNL via FMP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Regiano Posted 11 January Share Posted 11 January On 18/11/2023 at 07:43, Mark Hone said: Are there any shops in Ligne nowadays? according to Streetview, a couple of restaurants seems to be about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 11 January Author Share Posted 11 January (edited) Thanks Brian and Don. As I've commented elsewhere, Floyd was an inveterate letter writer. His long account of the last few months of the war was serialised by the 'Middleton Guardian'. He must have been disappointed that he missed the Battalion's 'finest hour' on the Lys, as he was still recuperating from wounds suffered on the first day of Third Ypres and did not return to duty until several weeks later. Edited 11 January by Mark Hone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinec Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January Hey all, Some news about @christiandup, doctors have decided to use radiotherapy and not chemo. For now, he is still in recovery home and is supporting the treatment well. He goes walking every day. I'll keep you posted about him. I went to the old Ath cemetary and took a photo of commonwealth tombs. Happy new year to everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Hone Posted 13 January Author Share Posted 13 January Please give him our best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January On 11/01/2024 at 10:03, brianmorris547 said: I found this article in the Heywood Advertiser 14/02/1919 which may interest you and Tricia @A Lancashire Fusilier by Proxy Yes, Brian, I was interested in the article, thank you for posting it. Though Floyd missed what has been referred to as the 2/5th's "finest hour" in the Battle of the Lys, he was at least with them on Armistice Day at Ath and Irchonweltz, which must also have been very memorable. By the way, in the History of the Lancashire Fusiliers 1914 to 1918, Major General Latter gives this rather amusing account of the capture of Padre Forse, though he does not name him: At 10 a.m. the battalion's chaplain, the Reverend R.E.G. Newman M.C., walked into battalion headquarters, asked for a map, took it over to Lieutenant-Colonel Brighten, and explained in the calmest tones that, while he was in the regimental aid post at Windy Corner, the Germans had arrived. Another chaplain who was there began to argue with the Germans as to whether they had the right under international law to take prisoner a minister of religion who was tending the wounded. Under cover of this discussion and of the mist, Newman, after an unsuccessful grab at a German's rifle and bayonet, made a bolt for it, and was able to give a very clear and soldierly description of where the enemy were. This was of great assistance to the British in checking the German advance. My grandfather speaks very warmly of Padre Newman, so does Floyd, and he has at least two other entries of note in the Official History. He must have been an excellent man to have on your side as padre. @martinec thank you for posting the photo of the cemetery, looking neat and tidy, and please do pass on our good wishes to @christiandup for his radiotherapy treatment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morance Posted 17 January Share Posted 17 January Hello everyone, Christian asked me to post photos of commemoration 11th November 2023 at Irchonwelz Communal Cemetery. Sébastien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morance Posted 18 January Share Posted 18 January 22 hours ago, Morance said: Hello everyone, Christian asked me to post photos of commemoration 11th November 2023 at Irchonwelz Communal Cemetery. Sébastien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris Posted 18 January Share Posted 18 January Thank you Sébastien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiandup Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February Best wishes 2024 Mr and Mrs Hone I gets better, I am able to reuse my computer. To thank you for your kindness, here is a picture of the soldiers of Lancashire. On November 9, 1918, these soldiers crossed the Scheldt north of Tournai. On 10 November, they arrived at IRCHONWELZ ! These Lancashire soldiers stayed in « château Hubert » (now a school) until the end of November 1918 ; perhaps, we will find a document on this historic event. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February 21 minutes ago, christiandup said: Best wishes 2024 Mr and Mrs Hone I gets better, I am able to reuse my computer. To thank you for your kindness, here is a picture of the soldiers of Lancashire. On November 9, 1918, these soldiers crossed the Scheldt north of Tournai. On 10 November, they arrived at IRCHONWELZ ! These Lancashire soldiers stayed in « château Hubert » (now a school) until the end of November 1918 ; perhaps, we will find a document on this historic event. Thank you. Hello Christian. Glad you are feeling better. I am interested in the photo. My father's letter say that he crossed the Scheldt on 9th November. and the officer on the right on the coat looks just like him, it looks like his ear, his nose, his haircut and even the way he is standing with his stick! I have attched a photo of him earlier in 1918 when he was still in England where he is wearing his big coat and has his stick. ....and Christian, thank you very much for the card and the poppy seeds. They will be planted when the time is right. Regards John Morris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February (edited) I have just checked his letters. He says they crossed the river at midday, and then went to Antoing. Edited 8 February by Morris typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morance Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February 8 minutes ago, Morris said: Hello Christian. Glad you are feeling better. I am interested in the photo. My father's letter say that he crossed the Scheldt on 9th November. and the officer on the right on the coat looks just like him, it looks like his ear, his nose, his haircut and even the way he is standing with his stick! I have attched a photo of him earlier in 1918 when he was still in England where he is wearing his big coat and has his stick. ....and Christian, thank you very much for the card and the poppy seeds. They will be planted when the time is right. Regards John Morris Hello Mr. Morris, is he him ? yep, he is great like your father Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February (edited) 49 minutes ago, christiandup said: Best wishes 2024 Mr and Mrs Hone I gets better, I am able to reuse my computer. To thank you for your kindness, here is a picture of the soldiers of Lancashire. On November 9, 1918, these soldiers crossed the Scheldt north of Tournai. On 10 November, they arrived at IRCHONWELZ ! These Lancashire soldiers stayed in « château Hubert » (now a school) until the end of November 1918 ; perhaps, we will find a document on this historic event. Thank you. A super photograph, the men marching towards the camera and carrying shovels are without doubt the pioneer battalion of the 57th (2nd West Lancashire) Infantry Division, the 2/5th (Pioneer) Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment - Territorial Force. As well as the digging implements they can be recognised by their collar badges, although inevitably a few men are without them. Edited 8 February by FROGSMILE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morris Posted 8 February Share Posted 8 February Were the 57th Div there though on 9th. Wikipedia says that the 57th went to Lille on 1st Nov and were still there on 11th. Or had the 55th borrowed some pioneers? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/57th_(2nd_West_Lancashire)_Division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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