burlington Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 Is there any written work about visits to the Western Front in the decade 1918-1928, and in particular the work of charitable organisations in organising same and in helping the families of the fallen? We go now to respect and remember the dead and to try to understand what happened. What it must have been like for the families can only be imagined. I understand that there was little government help, or even interest. Please correct me if I am wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 Well the US had Gold Star mothers, ones whose sons died. Maybe 70% of identified dead were brought to the USA. Funeral industry ran an interesting ad campaing impugning those who left men in France & Belgium. Mothers and some widows but mostly mothers got the government to send them over to see the graves, argued they had saved govt $. These tours were segregated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 I found "Battlefield Tourism" by David W. Lloyd interesting. Sub-title is "Pilgrimage and Commemoration of the Great War in Britain, Australia and Canada 1919-1939". Published Berg 1998 Softback. It's a bit dry being an enlarged thesis text, but I think but interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 19 November , 2003 Share Posted 19 November , 2003 Slightly, off topic, but the attached photo was one of a series taken by Cpl. 868 Rupert Whiteman, formerly of the 10th Royal Fusiliers, when he returned to the Somme in 1922 with his wife, and visited Pozieres, the site of the 10th Royal Fusiliers first major attack in July 1916. Some Pals might think the view slightly familiar and that is because the view is looking up Pozieres main road towards Bapaume, and the now well frequented 'Tommy Cafe' is in the buildings on the right centre. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iain mchenry Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Although this book does not concentrate on charitable organisations that helped veterans/families revisit the front, Will Birds "Thirteen years After" concentrates on his return to Belgium and France to see where he served and how the land had changed. I found it a good read. Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Chris, I liked the photograph. Is there a source where we can see more of his pictures? Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Gwyn. Copies of these photos were sent to me by friends of the Whiteman family after i asked for help in researching the 10th RF at Pozieres, with a letter in 'Stand To' a couple of years ago. I am not aware of them being published or on the net anywhere, or of any copyright restrictions, but if you want to email me off forum i will gladly copy the pages for you. The other pics show The Aussie memorial and Gibraltar Blockhouse, as well as views of Mametz Wood, as well as some shots from the Ypres area. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Chris , Is the Pozieres picture actually in colour or colourised in some way. Very nice snapshot of what must have been a fascinating re-visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Ian. Not 100% sure on the colouring point. The friends of the Whiteman family who sent me the photos, suggested that as Rupert Whiteman was a keen photograper, he colourised them after taking the originals, although they were not sure themselves. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 Chris, that would be absolutely fantastic. I will send you an email address. I don't know what I can do to reciprocate, but if you can think of anything... Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burlington Posted 20 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 20 November , 2003 First of all, thanks to all for the hints. My original posting has given rise to another theme, started by Chris, with a photo of Pozieres. There must be a stack of similar lost in the mists of time. We are all very good at compiling info. about eg the Somme, Ypres etc, maps photos et al, analysing what happened, who did what to whom and so on, and many books both contemporaneous (?spelling) and more recent books and guides BUT the aftermath does not seem to be so popular or rather as well documented. I am speaking from a sociological point of view (at least I think this is what I think I am about) and the need to get a view about post 1918 activities. Also can someone give me an analysis of post 1918 governmental attitudes and support for the bereaved? Perhaps this thread should go into another topic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted 20 November , 2003 Share Posted 20 November , 2003 The diary of William Dea, which is on the main site, I transcribed for his daughter who lives in a retirement home in the vicinity. She and her mother were due to visit William' grave at Bedford House for the first time in September 1939!! Consequently she never made it. She does now have a photo album of Bedford House Cemetery and the grave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted 21 November , 2003 Share Posted 21 November , 2003 Below is another photo taken by Rupert Whiteman when he visited Pozieres in 1922 with his wife; this time looking towards the Australian Memorial, with the remains of Gibraltar Blockhouse on the right. Sorry about diverting the theme of the thread Burlington, but i do agree with you on the point that the aftermath does not seem to be so well documented. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wick Posted 9 December , 2004 Share Posted 9 December , 2004 Rupert Whiteman was my half-uncle whom I never met but thanks to Chris and Steve on this forum I was able to find these photos. Thank you gentlemen. David Whiteman Sydney Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andigger Posted 10 December , 2004 Share Posted 10 December , 2004 These tours were segregated. They were segregated! Paul I am amazed that any black mothers or relatives were 1 allowed to go or 2 could afford to go. Were there any documented tours to the Front by black US relatives? Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest webbhead Posted 10 December , 2004 Share Posted 10 December , 2004 Jay Winter's book Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning discusses (among other things) families visiting war sites in the decade after the war. Particularly important was these families' efforts to locate/ retrieve/ bury the bodies of their loved ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Nulty Posted 10 December , 2004 Share Posted 10 December , 2004 All Some weeks ago in another forum thread, member "Desmond7" posted a link, reproduced below, to a web site containing pictures of Belfast men returning to the battlefields in the 1920s. I found the pictures quite poignant and I think you may too. There are several pages of them, and I can recommend a visit. Steve http://www.belfastsomme.com/heroes_ycv1.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 10 December , 2004 Share Posted 10 December , 2004 Yes, wonderful images of the Ulstermen on their pilgrimage. What tales must have been told on that trip and what proud tears quietly shed. God Bless them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 11 December , 2004 Share Posted 11 December , 2004 Andy few blacks could have afforded to go but government paid after a long lobbying campaign by Gold Star Mothers who said they had saved US money by not having sons brought home. Lisa Boudreau has done her Oxford PhD thesis on GSM and Illinois public tv has done a documentary recently you should be able to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Russell.Gore@crawley.gov.uk Posted 22 December , 2004 Share Posted 22 December , 2004 Some of the Salient points Books cover both German and Allied pilgrimages to the Salient in the Twenties.Also in the Michelin Guides to the battleFields books,there were a number of Tour operators on the go immediatley after the war ended,i believe that Thomas Cooks were amongst them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healdav Posted 23 December , 2004 Share Posted 23 December , 2004 Kipling wrote a story about, eventually, a woman who went to the battlefields to see a grave and who met a woman who was taking photos of graves as a living. He also mentions a couple who had been in the army registration unit for days, but were so distraught they kept changing the name of their son and his regiment and where he was killed. I shan't give the ending for those who don't know the story; it's quite poignant (even though the rationale for the story is obvious). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arras100 Posted 8 March , 2007 Share Posted 8 March , 2007 This thread has been so amazingly informative. Just wanted to add something to see if anyone else has come across it in their readings...but the only reported case of body snatching was done by a Canadian woman who went to France, dug up her son's body, and brought him back home with her to Toronto. Any one happen to have read this anywhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 8 March , 2007 Share Posted 8 March , 2007 This thread has been so amazingly informative. Just wanted to add something to see if anyone else has come across it in their readings...but the only reported case of body snatching was done by a Canadian woman who went to France, dug up her son's body, and brought him back home with her to Toronto. Any one happen to have read this anywhere? I really really want to hear that story, is it true? Mick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spw Posted 8 March , 2007 Share Posted 8 March , 2007 Kipling wrote a story about, eventually, a woman who went to the battlefields to see a grave and who met a woman who was taking photos of graves as a living. He also mentions a couple who had been in the army registration unit for days, but were so distraught they kept changing the name of their son and his regiment and where he was killed. I shan't give the ending for those who don't know the story; it's quite poignant (even though the rationale for the story is obvious). Where can I find a listing of this particular story? kind regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBI Posted 8 March , 2007 Share Posted 8 March , 2007 http://www.historycooperative.org/journals....5/holguin.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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