Owen D Posted 6 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 6 September , 2006 1st/4th Wiltshires. Palestine. Dec 1917. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypres1418 Posted 6 September , 2006 Share Posted 6 September , 2006 Just caught up, excellent enteries as usual. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beersheba Posted 6 September , 2006 Share Posted 6 September , 2006 owen...i know where you got the idea for that one mate....david from the museum let me have the picture from old sarum...very nice impression mate.. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen D Posted 6 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 6 September , 2006 Cheers Andy. I'm getting back into this drawing lark. (and before anyone says, NO I didn't trace it.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 7 September , 2006 Share Posted 7 September , 2006 Some good entries so far, here's my take on the subject Horses for Courses My name is King and I've been at war now for over two years. To the army, in which I serve, I'm of course not "King", but a number. That number is marked on everything I own, from my coat to the shoes on my feet, but to the lads of the Battalion Transport ,11th Border Regiment, I'm King.... We've been through much since I joined the Regiment, straight from the farm, in September 1914. We had training at the Racecourse Blackwell, where those with some previous army experience tried to imbue into us novices the correct military values, and we learned several things about the army. Firstly, the food is , how shall I put it, bland and boring. Same old same old, every day as if things such as varying intake did not exist. Secondly discipline is harsh and the work is hard a real slog with the sole intent of building us up and inuring us to discomfort. Sometimes I long for the days back on the farm when life was easy and ploughing was the hardest thing we had to do..... If we thought training was hard, then the reality of war is ten times worse. No amount of training can prepare you for the noise and smell and conditions at the front. It's just in you or it isn't, some who were enlisted with me fled down the road at the first crash of guns and could not stand it this far forward. I'm pretty philosophical about it and not a nervy type, so I've stood where others could not cope, which has earned me respect among the battalion's fighting men...... The winters are the worst, either freezing conditions biting bone deep, day and night when even the thickest blanket can only seem like an insult, or rain soaking you to the skin and causing deep sticky mud to form which makes any form of travel a nightmare. If pushed I would say mud is the worst, every movement of anything becomes a trial of strength. Many of my fellows have died in mud filled shell holes stuck fast, but I've been lucky so far. The other day it got so bad we had to take shells to the guns using a sort of sling across our backs, as no wheeled vehicles could traverse the mud. This entailed very hard slogs as only a few shells at a time could be carried and the guns require many. The whole transport had to take part, all day with little rest and poor food, just to supply one battery. Sleep came easythat night I'll tell you....... I know it's not the front line, but the shelling is something fierce on the roads, at all times of day and night and the enemy seem to have certain areas "taped" which they bombard at regular intervals. They know without the transport of goods, the front line can't hold out and attacks can't be started, so we do cop it, believe me, even though the front line soldiers still have my respect, as they have to sit and take it. We are at least, are on the move...... The 11th Border soldiers are an easy going lot, for men who never went to war before, mostly from farmsthemselves, but keen to do their bit and prove their worth. The transport men are on the whole,men with experience of horses, the backbone of the army transport system, and have had their place in the scheme of things impressed upon them. Hard work is done when required,but rest is easier to come by than for the front line and I for one, appreciate that. Private Stevens and I work together most of the time and have developed a real rapport. When he was wounded by shrapnel last year, I carried him to the aid post on my back, he says I saved his life, but I think he's made of tougher stuff than that...... For while it looked like Stevens was home and dry, out of this war and part of me missed him and was sad, whilst another part of me hoped he could return home to Carlisle, not too badly wounded and see out the war in comfort. The maybe we could have met up under happier circumstances "apres la guerre". Stevens returned after 6 months convalescence and we are now reunited as he says " the Terrible Twosome back in harness". He looks fit, if a little less chirpy than before. Things are getting bad at home and recruitment is falling off, so wounded men are returned to duty as soon as possible. Stevo, as I know him, was glad to see me, he looks somehow different from the man who enlisted in 1914, harder, more cynical and somehow less enthusiastic. I have been lucky so far, not a scratch, but you do wonder if your luck can hold.... Last night Stevo came and sat by me, shared with me some "goodies he had brought from home" and talked more than I've ever heard him. He spoken of home, his family, his fears for the future and the present. At one point I saw his eyes mist over and his voice cracked as he told me I was his best friend in "this mans army". "King" he said "I don't think I'm gonna make it, my number's up I feel it in my bones". Then he said to me " King, you deserve better than what you've got, back breaking labour and nowt to show for it, not even a medal". Tears were now flowing down his cheeks and I didn't know where to look, to be honest. He gathered himself up though and as he went back to his billet, he patted me on the back and said "King, lad, you're the first one I've ever told this to and probably the last, but I know you'll not tell anyone........ and he paused and continued,.......It's a good job horses can't talk ....in't it ! ....". Well done to all entries and it's nice to see some first timers (Mandy...) in the MGWAT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 8 September , 2006 Share Posted 8 September , 2006 Great, Spike. I like the angle you come from. Horses are, and were, often the recipent of secrets and inner feelings from people who couldn't tell anyone else. Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 8 September , 2006 Share Posted 8 September , 2006 I really struggled with this one, but your story really shows your interest in animals at war Kim and your feelings for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat Posted 20 September , 2006 Share Posted 20 September , 2006 Battalion Transport Some say we have it cushy… cushy they say! Well you sit bent double in a saddle all day And night, on roads… cant even call em roads, more rutted track Fouled with mud or some unlucky beast blown on its back Neck cradled by a sobbing driver failing to close out the squeals of agony Until a merciful shot ends the misery Of a faithful friend, hauled unceremoniously into a ditch Its funeral a ceremony of hitch,unhitch, re hitch To keep the column moving. It’s the easy life, the easy life…yes its such a lark Exposed to the rain, the wind the cold the dark Soaked through to the very soul and so tired yet unable to sleep For though my head falls forward and I am barely able to keep A straight course, I dare not close my eyes. For a man exposed to rain is exposed to skies From which and without warning a more deadly torrent Falls and with no place to shelter man and horse are rent apart and the column is no longer moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 20 September , 2006 Share Posted 20 September , 2006 Excellent Gunboat, I like the pace of the piece (you could call it the canter I suppose) and the way one line trips into the next in several places e.g. From which and without warning a more deadly torrent/ Falls and with no place to shelter man and horse are rent /apart and the column is no longer moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 20 September , 2006 Share Posted 20 September , 2006 Beautiful Gunboat. Just says it all. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beersheba Posted 20 September , 2006 Share Posted 20 September , 2006 Its a little "off topic" BUT.. this weekend i came across a book called Farming and Forestry on the Western Front 1915-1919 by Murrey Maclean. It is FULL of very interesting pictures of Draught horses..and yes my love ..MULES.. every one of them i've never seen before.I know a lot of you guys love Horses on this thread (kim you must get this one mate) Its been reviewed on the book thread,but the title might be a little misleading,and you have to take my word for it,its a good book.Lots of infomation about the ammount of forrage shipped from the uk as well. If you google old pond you'll get the website for the publishers..£17.95 and worth every penny...well thats my opinion.. Lots of heavy haulage the way it should be done..by horse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 21 September , 2006 Share Posted 21 September , 2006 Thanks for the tip Andy. Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Who is doing the poll this month?? And what s the next topic? Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landsturm Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Didn't participate this month... May I put the next title tomorrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 You're quick Landsturm! No probs with me. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen D Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Aye as Landsturm won August he should've choosen before, sorry chum I was too quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypres1418 Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Landstrum for me too. Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike10764 Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 I think (hope!!) Roxy's doing the poll, I'm kinda busy at the mo' and I see no reason why Lands can't pick next months topic- he deserves it. If not, I'll try and make time next week to do the poll. Over to you Landsturm...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landsturm Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Aye as Landsturm won August he should've choosen before, sorry chum I was too quick. Is it just me, or is this sentence really hard to understand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen D Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 Is it just me, or is this sentence really hard to understand... No it is my bad English. I'll try again. Yes Landsturm you can chose the next subject. As you won August MGWAT you should have chosen Septembers subject. I rushed to start it off after squirrel suggested Bn Transport.Sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landsturm Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 No it is my bad English. I'll try again. Yes Landsturm you can chose the next subject. As you won August MGWAT you should have chosen Septembers subject. I rushed to start it off after squirrel suggested Bn Transport.Sorry. I didn't won in August... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen D Posted 30 September , 2006 Author Share Posted 30 September , 2006 I didn't won in August... Correct spike did. oops. well you got my vote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marina Posted 30 September , 2006 Share Posted 30 September , 2006 This is as good as Monty Python. Marina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Posted 1 October , 2006 Share Posted 1 October , 2006 Marina, Cheers Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Posted 1 October , 2006 Share Posted 1 October , 2006 I'm on the poll. Be gentle, I'm a computer Luddite. Roxy 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