susanhemmings Posted 5 September , 2006 Share Posted 5 September , 2006 Just chatching up at last. Well done Egbert. What a tribute. and well done Neil. have bookmarked your site. fantastic stuff.... Egbert, I don't think anyone would ever lose interest in this. Let Grandad's legacy live on and on. Speechless now. And full of admiration. Susan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongJohnSilver2 Posted 15 September , 2006 Share Posted 15 September , 2006 Hello Egbert, Only joined the forum a couple of days ago... and just came across your thread earlier today and have spent the last 5 or 6 hours reading through it on and off. And as all the other posters have said, it was/is a truly fascinating, very well presented and well-researched real-life story... which I also would certainly buy if it ever was published in any form. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 15 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 15 September , 2006 Thank you all for your recent nice comments!!! I could go on and go on, but I fear it would distract from Grandfather per se. I have just finished translating all the field letters and some letters of his two sons, dating "futuristic" up to 1943, when both were young Lieutenants. Amongst other I found heartbreaking commitments and pledges from Grandfathers two sons towards my Grandmother on the legacy which Gottfried wrote down as a gift for their path of life (and which was quoted in the thread). Amazing stuff -I hope coming generations know how to deal with this treasure and assume responsibility for lord-keeping all this material. My greatest fear is my upcoming movement to Europe next week. If the container ship sinks with all the precious stuff....I hope they recalled the German subs from Atlantic by now.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 15 September , 2006 Share Posted 15 September , 2006 Hi, Egbert - any chance of you postting those letters if they're not too private? Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 18 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 18 September , 2006 Marina, can do. But all the archive is somewhere between Alabama and Cologne in a hopeful waterproof container that - still hopefully - arrives in November Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Forum member Michel Knockaert just contacted me and asked me to post the following message as he could not downsize the pictures he had taken from Granddads grave which he visited a couple of days ago: Egbert, as had promised it to you a few months ago on the forum, I went the last week l to the British military cemetery of MERVILLE on the grave of your grand'dad. and I deposited in your name a white rose, like the white dove of peace. friendly Michel Michel thank you so very much for your visit and thoughts you spared at Granddad's grave. These visits from forum members are wonderful "returns" for the story Gottfried made available for you. ... ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 That was kind! Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest windy Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Helloh Egbert. From reading this discussion and enjoying the pictures, surprises, etc., it is quite obvious that you have gathered quite a collectionj of varied friends throughout the whole wide world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 2 October , 2006 Share Posted 2 October , 2006 I have just found this thread tonight. I'm a new member, interested in the Salonika campaign and France in 1915. I have found this totally riveting and highly emotional. Well done Egbert with all your research. I found a couple of weeks ago my grandad's WW1 diary from 1914-1919, when he was demobbed. That was in a box of things that my grandma had kept! I'm still working my way through it. I need time to visit, where the box is stored, without the children so that I have time to read and record the items and also to scan them. I don't know what else is in the box. I've seen a 1st World War dressing and maps of Salonika and his diary, I'm hoping there is more to come! You've given me an insight into what you can do to find out more about the person and their life, from the artefacts left behind. Thank you for also showing me that the tragedy touched all nations, not just the English and their families and for opening my understanding of the impact of WW1. I visited Normandy this year, before reading this thread, but have not yet geographically found where Merville is in France. One day, I'll go back to France and think of your grandad as I also think of where my grandad fought. Best wishes Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trevor Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 detail Egbert, what is the small piece of thread/sting/? which appears in just to the right of the ruler in this photo? I notice that it appears in several of your earlier photos. Trevor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 7 October , 2006 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Windy and Claire, thanx for your responses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trevor Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 I don't understand: do you mean the dirt on the garage floor? There is something in the picture that appears in other photographs. It is very clearly seen in Post #274, just below the wallet. It can also be seen in numbers 304, 313, and 314 as well as some others. I thought it had something to do with the contents of the trunk. It looks like a piece of string, or perhaps the stalk from a cherry? Perhaps I am wrong in thinking it had something to do with the contents of Grandfather's trunk?? Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 It's a clue to the whereabout to a second grandfather's trunk - notice how it points to the left? Something lies in that direction. Egbert left us a clue. Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 7 October , 2006 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Trevor, I see what you mean -you have a detective eye on details! Sorry just Alabama dirt on my driveway-no meaning. Marina no news! The trunk and all artifacts are still on a Hapag-Lloyd container vessel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Marina no news! The trunk and all artifacts are still on a Hapag-Lloyd container vessel I can hope, I suppose... Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 7 October , 2006 Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Is the little bit of string part of the shoe lace from the lovely little bootie? Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 7 October , 2006 Author Share Posted 7 October , 2006 Claire and Trevor, I will doublecheck as soon as the trunk arrives Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Mackenzie Posted 9 October , 2006 Share Posted 9 October , 2006 Egbert. I stopped by Merville on Saturday and said hi to Gottfried and a few others. It was a lovely day and I will post some pictures once my computer at home has been fixed. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 October , 2006 Author Share Posted 9 October , 2006 Oh this is wonderful news Neil. Please post some pics as well. The Remembrance Community is growing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Mackenzie Posted 11 October , 2006 Share Posted 11 October , 2006 After a lot of grief I can finally log onto the Forum from my home PC. Had an excellent weekend in Belgium (7/8 October) including a brief trip to Merville where we stopped by the original burial of Gottfried - the hedge is now a lot higher from when egbert was there so not too easy to see into the field but it is possible. At Merville cemetery I stopped by a few graves including that of Ajit Gurung of the Gurkha Rifles kia 6 October a long way from home and also that of RV Bowles of the DCLI killed on the same day as Gottfried. Both graves are within feet of his. The attached picture shows Gottfrieds grave. The sprig includes oak leaves and (what I was told was) a type of myrtle (but I am not 100% convinced - although the leaves looked like mini myrtles and did smell nice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 12 October , 2006 Author Share Posted 12 October , 2006 Neil this is such a wonderful bouquet. This gesture is a great "reward" for telling the story of Grandfather. He surely does appreciate your thoughts. Thank you so very much! Michels white rose is also still there and shows how perishable life is. Everything has an end.....R.I.P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyHollinger Posted 12 October , 2006 Share Posted 12 October , 2006 Wonderful ... how much can any cyber community claim to do ... other than the real life impact of this thread and now, this gesture. How long ago was it that I helped clarify an image ... how many times have I "tuned" into this thread ... how far are we all separated in miles but not in thought. Hope and beauty are strange, very strange things. Could you imagine what our ancestors would think about all of this if they could even imagine. If our little blue ball has a future, it is that the disaster of WWI might spawn what we have seen here - just electrons and switchs set to one or zero ... but still human and ... Well the rest is up to us. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 12 October , 2006 Share Posted 12 October , 2006 Egbert- Gottfried certainly has a place in all our thoughts, thanks to you and now he has more visitors than perhaps you and his family could have imagined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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