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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

spooks on the battlefields


trenchwalker

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you would think with the large amount of pain and suffering there would be some form of ghosts on the fields.has anyone experianced anything like that. :blink:

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Trenchwalker,

There was a very extensive thread on this subject earlier in the year on the forum. Its under the heading of "Strange occurances on the Western Front" I believe. A lot of the posts made for some interesting reading.

Iain

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:blink:

A couple of Marches ago, my mate Clive and I met a guy in Tommies who reckoned he was possessed by the spirit of a dead soldier who was killed in the war.

The drunker he got the worse he felt about it!

He was actually very disturbed about the whole thing and said he had to return every March to the fields as he was drawn to the area and could only get relief by visiting the Somme.

He also thought that the soldier was in one of Tommies collection on the wall.

He said he also saw a ghost round "Mucky Farm".

Very strange behavior.

Tony

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The drunker he got the worse he felt about it!

Funny how the intake of booze seems to increase the belief in ghosties and ghoulies. Seem to recall it featured in the "Strange Occurances" thread.

Without getting too philosophical here, you have to have a belief in an afterlife, to believe in ghosts. Just doesnt work for me.

John

B)

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I'd be interested to read the "strange occurances" thread but I can't find it with the search function. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

John

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I'd be interested to read the "strange occurances" thread but I can't find it with the search function. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Can't find it either though I tried all search functions. :angry:

Thanks for pointing in the right direction if anyone would, please.

Daniel

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A couple of Marches ago, my mate Clive and I met a guy in Tommies who reckoned he was possessed by the spirit of a dead soldier who was killed in the war.

Excuse ignorance: 'Tommies' please? I hope its on the Somme, otherwise your man was not only drunk but somewhere else, as it were.

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;) Hi

Tommies is a wonderful Bar on The Somme in Pozieres. well known to WW1 walkers etc.

He has 2 trench systems in his garden!!

"Must see" place,

Tony

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you would think with the large amount of pain and suffering there would be some form of ghosts on the fields.has anyone experianced anything like that. :blink:

Not my experience, but I once read a WW2 book that mentioned something about supposed ghosts from WW1. It is probably 10 years since I read it so I can't remember the exact details. However, the author was a member of the Royal Artillery, and stationed in northern France in late 1939 or early 1940.

IIRC one night a sentry claimed to have seen walking Scots wounded led by a piper marching towards him. Of course, this being the "phoney war" period, and being on the site of a WW1 battle, the only thing it could have been was ghosts, or SRD(?)

Sorry, I can't remember the name of the book, and my books are packed ready for a move. However, I have a feeling that the soldiers name was Harding. He was a pre-war regular from the East End and was captured in May 1940 and spent the war in German camps.

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To avoid confusion isn't the famous bar/museum at Pozieres known locally as "Le Tommy"- although us Brits will of course anglicise everything ( as our grandfathers did )and add "ie" onto the end of names e.g "Greavesie" ( not sure of the spelling !)

Yes Occurences was variously mispelt (?) , so perm the variations to search for it.

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Without getting too philosophical here, you have to have a belief in an afterlife, to believe in ghosts. Just doesnt work for me.

...unless you're a believer in the "tape recordings in the stone" school of thought.

Dave

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Not my experience, but I once read a WW2 book that mentioned something about supposed ghosts from WW1. It is probably 10 years since I read it so I can't remember the exact details. However, the author was a member of the Royal Artillery, and stationed in northern France in late 1939 or early 1940.

Sounds like one of the 'Gun Buster' books; 'Return Via Dunkirk' etc etc. He has his OP on the Menin Gate in May 1940.

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Not my experience, but I once read a WW2 book that mentioned something about supposed ghosts from WW1. It is probably 10 years since I read it so I can't remember the exact details. However, the author was a member of the Royal Artillery, and stationed in northern France in late 1939 or early 1940.

Sounds like one of the 'Gun Buster' books; 'Return Via Dunkirk' etc etc. He has his OP on the Menin Gate in May 1940.

No, it wasn't that.

The cover of the edition I have has the authors identity photo, from the German POW camp, on the front cover. He "liberated" it in 1945 when the ex-POWs ransacked the camp office.

This might "ring a bell" with someone.

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you would think with the large amount of pain and suffering there would be some form of ghosts on the fields.has anyone experianced anything like that. :blink:

Not my experience, but I once read a WW2 book that mentioned something about supposed ghosts from WW1. It is probably 10 years since I read it so I can't remember the exact details. However, the author was a member of the Royal Artillery, and stationed in northern France in late 1939 or early 1940.

IIRC one night a sentry claimed to have seen walking Scots wounded led by a piper marching towards him. Of course, this being the "phoney war" period, and being on the site of a WW1 battle, the only thing it could have been was ghosts, or SRD(?)

Sorry, I can't remember the name of the book, and my books are packed ready for a move. However, I have a feeling that the soldiers name was Harding. He was a pre-war regular from the East End and was captured in May 1940 and spent the war in German camps.

This has been one of those nagging things that has kept me awake!

Now, at 3.30 am I am fairly certain that the book is by William Harding and entitled

"A Cockney Soldier".

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Tommies is a wonderful Bar on The Somme in Pozieres. well known to WW1 walkers etc.

He has 2 trench systems in his garden!!

Am I right in assuming that the trenches are as phoney as they look?

John

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Theres a programme doing the rounds on one of the discovery channels at the moment called Ghosthunters. One episode follows a medium as he walks the Somme battlefield looking for Ghosts !!!!!! To use a line from Blackadder Goes Forth it's about as convincing as Dr Crippen's defence lawyer. :)

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That book " A Cockney Soldier" is certainly on the lists.

I would imagine being perched up on the Menin Gate waiting for blitzkrieg to fall upon you at any minute would be enough to put the wind up anyone ! A friendly ghost would have been a welcome arrival.

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