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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Get voting July MGWAT


Soren

this months entries  

51 members have voted

  1. 1. this months entries

    • Andidigger
      20
    • Dirty Dick
      5
    • Landsturm
      9
    • Ozzie
      2
    • Soren
      15


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Ozzie:

Moving up to the front.

They left behind them the small creature comforts of their last billet, a large, cold barn, full of the ripe rich smells of rural animals, complete with mice. As they made their way up the road, towards the maze of trenches that would eventually lead them to their new billet, the front line, they looked about at the green fields dancing to the tune of a soft breeze. The poppies, spread like a blanket laid for a picnic, lifted their fiery red petals to the sun, catching the eye of one soldier. He lent over and picked a single bloom, placing it in his hat.

An old woman dressed in black, leant over a gate that hung precariously on one hinge. She grinned a toothless smile, and nodded at each soldier that called a greeting. Her eyes were vacant and her smile a little vague. A few of the passing men wondered if she had suffered one too many losses.

All too soon, they were in the narrow confines of the trenches. Silent, they passed men returning from the frontline, haggard and grey of face. The trenches twisted this way and that, signage with familiar names, at each new turn. Piccadilly, New London, names from far away, given to these lanes of hard packed earth, dug by human hand. Men of every description, jostled and cursed as the fading light made the going more difficult. The stench of war invaded the nostrils. The smell of unwashed bodies, cordite, decomposing flesh, rotten earth and cooking food mingled to become a hated perfume.The fear of the front line was overtaken by weariness, their tread becoming slower, their limbs heavier.

Was it only two days ago that they had come down this way. A man should get more than two nights out of the line. Five days in the front, four days in support, four days in reserve. Sleep, what was that? Noise that made your body ache, and your ears hum, it did not let up. How could you sleep? Now they had to flatten themselves against the wall of the trenches, as exhausted stretcher bearers manhandled their sad loads past. Some soldiers looked at the men laid upon these canvases, and thought, “But for the grace of God”. Now and then one of the injured would call out, “Good luck, boys.” or “Give the Hun one for me.”, but mostly, they lay quiet and stoic, with only a tight smile hiding their pain.

The darkness fell softly, unbelievably softly. The soldiers didn’t notice. The lightening of the verry lights and the thunder of the guns , made them think that they were in a nightmare, where nature consisted of churned, blackened earth, and stark sticks that were once trees. One by one, they settled down in their possies, resigned to their fate; sharing silently, the horror of war.

Behind them, on the floor of a trench a hundred yards back, one blood red petal lay beside its trampled, torn sisters.

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Arrakadeessh! I must come out of the closet, I voted for it! there my Julian Clary credential are proven, I thank-you!

Must be the pull of your Danish namesake (oo-er).

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I suspect athat Andidigger and Dirtydick have voted for themselves :unsure: !!!!

Actually I haven't voted yet!

But I see you mis-spelled my name, must be a ploy to trim some of my vote totals! Either that or revenge for my critique of your Sacred Road work. Alright Soren, I see you have it in for me. I'm not paranoid.....

:lol:

ANDIGGER

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Andigger .. not paranoid? It's like the cover of a Black Sabbath Album!

and that's why I voted for the man in black ... surreal. Dick has been watching too much Mr. Ben.

Des Iommi.

Rock God.

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Andigger .. not paranoid? It's like the cover of a Black Sabbath Album!

and that's why I voted for the man in black ... surreal.

Actually I titled it Moving up the Line at Night which is a key feature of my work, otherwise it is just a Black Sabbath cover. The title is key, but now that I have just voted and see that I am tied with Soren, it just proves that he has omitted this key detail to handicap me! Do I smell a conspiracy..... I want the hanging chad counted, and recounted! :ph34r:

Andy

BTW... As this is the only possible chance I could ever have to win an art contest I am enjoying the opportunity to even be considered!

BTW... Mr Squirrel PM'ed me asking why he should vote for me, this is my response:

Mr Squirrel - Actually your reply proves my point. My artisitic ability has been compromised by a missing title. My work is as much about humour as it is skill. I have no artistic skill at all.. however, when the topic was announced "Moving up the Line" and it was clarified that it could be moving up the line at any time I chose a night scene.

There is the serious side to this argument. I am sure many a Tommy would agree that at night one couldn't see his hand in front of his face, let alone a hun crouched over the next hill. Of course the humourous side is that I can now compete in an art competition with little to no talent.

A vote for me is to buck the trend of recognizing skill in art and appreciating the humor.

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I actually found Andigger's work quite haunting as you stare into that black rectangle, you begin to see your own face reflected in the monitor.

Scared the hell out of me!

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andigger,

somebody on here will want to know the day, the year, the unit and location but I don't have to know.

DirtyDick

Don't know about a fan base I thought it was just the way you walked.

Soren

prefer the pastel (?) one.

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If I am elected I promise many things and will dish the dirt on the other contenders.

Why should you vote for these people?

Andigger - blatant infringement of extant artwork; namely Black Sabbatch album cover. If he wins, the Forum will be hacked by one enraged - and royalty-less - Mr Oswald Osborne, who will post rambling, confused and rude posts.

Landsturm - not really doing national service. As any fule kno, he is forcibly attending another sort of State institution in Finland. I shall say no more, but the offence involved an elk and a (male) Lap dancer...

Tim - A likely story about a problem with a scanner. His scan has been intercepted by the Vice Squad. At present the intercepted copy is on my desk at Crime HQ and I will forward details to the Polizei.

Ozzie - A picture is said to paint a thousand words. I counted your entry and it came to 504 words, including the title. Ergo, that is half-a-picture and thus incomplete and an invalid entry. (Umm... oh, and unlike others, I am always sure to support the English Cricket Team: they play in whites and with a rectangular-shaped raquet, right?)

Soren - Why have B&W pictures when you can have garish PC-generated colours (and used to the full) depicting sordid Home Front scenes? I mean, would you watch the snooker or football on a B&W screen? My picture shows the creepy modern age.

M'lud, I rest the case for the Prosecution.

:ph34r:

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Ozzie - A picture is said to paint a thousand words. I counted your entry and it came to 504 words, including the title. Ergo, that is half-a-picture and thus incomplete and an invalid entry.

Actually that was funny! :lol:

Perhaps you should stick to stand up since your computer imagery fails to compete with the juggernaut that is black art humour! :ph34r:

Andy

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Firstly apologies for not entering this month - Blimey did July whizz by or what.

Hopefully have a go next month - U boats please.

Glyn

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Actually I titled it Moving up the Line at Night which is a key feature of my work,

Yes indeed Andy. I feel your effort expresses the claustraphobic bleakness of conflict, the blackness of despair, yet within the very essence of representational post-modernism. I have seen few works that display such depth of contextual analysis using this economy of means; but I'm sure fellow Pals could be far more eloquently loquatious in their praise than these few humble words of mine.

:rolleyes:

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Yes indeed Andy. I feel your effort expresses the claustraphobic bleakness of conflict, the blackness of despair, yet within the very essence of representational  post-modernism. I have seen few works that display such depth of contextual analysis using this economy of means; but I'm sure fellow Pals could be far more eloquently loquatious in their praise than these few humble words of mine.

I agree wholeheartedly with Kate....also the use of secret irony really adds to the piece.

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