Good Morning,
Welcome to this week’s edition which primarily details last week’s Lincoln WFA battlefield tour, but there is an excellent piece from David Surr and some good news from Nadine in Belgium, as well as a film review and we end this week with a football story. Enjoy the read.
NEWS & EVENTS
Please find details of the next meeting at Leadenham Village Hall of the Leadenham Military History Group. – 7 for 7.30 pm start.
Tuesday 22 October 2024
Show and tell: Marconi R1155 and T1154 Combination, By Steve Locking.
Presentation: The Gunners at the Imjin River, April 1951, by Chris Finn. A Korean War story; the battle that saved Seoul.
British gunners at the Imjin
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Next Lecture – Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch – Western Front Association – Monday, October 28th – 6.30 for 7.00 pm start – Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG – Tim Lynch – Going Back, Pilgrimages to the Western Front.
Tim Lynch is an old friend of Lincoln Branch, having visited us in the past. Hailing from Tankersley in South Yorkshire, his lifelong interest in military history led to a career as a writer and presenter working on books, articles, TV and radio projects. He says he recently dropped all pretence of actually working for a living and instead now roams around acting as a battlefield guide to anyone who will listen. He is well known on the lecture circuit with 13 lectures on various subjects to his name.
This evening he will be presenting his illustrated talk, “Going Back, Pilgrimages to the Western Front” which examines the growth of battlefield tourism after the war as veterans returned to the fields where they had fought. It features, among other stories, that of the enormous operation mounted to enable Canadian veterans to attend the opening of Vimy Ridge Memorial Park and looks at why these trips were so important to veterans trying to make sense of their war.
Moving forward to the present day, every year many thousands of people visit the battlefields of the Great War, especially the Ypres salient, as their forebears had been doing before them for over a century. To sum up, this promises to be a fascinating talk on the subject of battlefield tours and what commemoration means today.
Lincoln & North Lincolnshire Branch WFA meets at the Royal Naval Association Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln, LN6 7BG. Doors open 6.30pm for 7.00pm start. Ample free parking being the premises and on the road in front. It’s a friendly location, with a pleasant steward who does a nice line in cut-price chocolates, and all will be made very welcome.
[On the night, the Chairman will take a straw poll about putting back the start time in 2025 to 7.30pm. If you can’t attend on 28th October but have a view about the start time, please drop me a line – Ed]
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Next Lecture – Spalding & South Lincolnshire Branch – Western Front Association – Thursday, October 24th – 7.00 for 7.30pm start – Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, PE11 1BT – Maj (Retd) Phil Watson – Audregnies Flank Guard Action of the BEF: the first charge, 9th Lancers.
Phil Watson joined the 9/12 Lancers in 1976 and was commissioned from the ranks in 1988. After various staff appointments, he returned to regimental duties to command Headquarters Squadron. He left the 9/12 Lancers in 2012 with the rank of Major after 35 years’ service, and was appointed Assistant Regimental Secretary, a mainly welfare role. He is an adult volunteer with Lincolnshire ACF, after completing 3 years as the Commandant for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland ACF. His main research interest is the Regiment’s last two mounted lance actions (during the retreat from Mons). They are examined in his books, “The Last Charge”, published by the Regimental Trustees in 2016, and “Audregnies: the Flank Guard Action and the First Cavalry Charge of the Great War”, published by Helion in 2019.
The subject of his illustrated presentation this evening is the famous cavalry charge at Audregnies on 24 August, 1914, which resulted in the 9th Lancers sustaining 30% casualties. It is best known for the story of the barbed wire, which brought the Lancers to an abrupt halt, and Captain Francis Grenfell leading a charge against German guns, yet this is absent from the official history. No other cavalry charge has been so misrepresented in the history of its telling, or the artworks produced after the event. The presentation aims to give a fair and accurate representation of the action, which includes the actions of the 4th Dragoon Guards and L. Battery, Royal Horse Artillery, and aims to give a “warts and all” account, shifting the emphasis from folklore to history. The full story of the “Myths of Audregnies – Wire or Fire” has been told by Phil over two articles published in the WFA Bulletin issue numbers 125 and 127 in which he corrects the inaccurate telling of the events of August 24 by several leading historians over the years since the event, including the “myths” of the barbed wire fence and the confusion regarding which of the nearby railway lines played a major part in the route taken by the Lancers.
To hear the factual truth about this action, drag yourself away from the boring television and come along to Spalding Baptist Church where you can enjoy a convivial evening with like-minded and friendly people in this very pleasant and modern venue. You will be made very welcome.
Venue: Spalding Baptist Church, Swan Street, Spalding, Lincs, PE11 1BT.
Times: Doors open 7.00pm for 7.30 pm start.
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Alwyn Killingsworth has kindly submitted the following details for the next Friends of the Lincoln Tank speaker event, which will be held on Thursday 31st October.
Alwyn writes; ‘The penultimate 2024 FoLT presentation will be held on Thursday the 31st October. You may recall seeing that FoLT members were recently at the Norfolk Tank Fest when the replica Medium A was on show. Tony Cooke and Kevin Jepson are the main folks involved in this build and we are pleased to confirm Kevin’s attendance on the night. He will tell us the process involved in this project. In his own words the main themes of the presentation will be:
“Why a Medium A and in, particular, Musical Box for a project (code named Project Fast Dog)?
Who is involved?
How did we start the project and the stages of the build - problem solving etc.
Technical details of the build
Where are we now?
What does the future hold for the replica?
There will be additional material on the crew of Musical Box and how much we can learn about shared history simply by connecting people via doing Living History projects like Fast Dog.
The talk will be less about the background to the development of this type of tank and more a focus on the actual building of our replica, the technical issues and the lessons we have learned along the way....... And I want to weave something in about the people side of the story too - the crew and their descendants.”
It is not every day that we can call on someone like Kevin to deliver a talk on these lines – replica builds of Foster tanks do not happen on a regular basis and I believe this will be a unique opportunity to explore this side of our fascinating interest in all things WW1 so one not to be missed.
As ever, the venue will be The Royal Naval Club, Coulson Road, Lincoln. Doors will open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. Entrance will be £5.00 on the door. You do not need to be a member of FoLT to attend. All are welcome – old, young, male or female. Refreshments will be available at the bar and there is ample car parking to the rear of the club. Hope to see you all on the night.’
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Please find a link below to this month’s Metheringham Airfield Aviation Centre newsletter.
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On Monday 11th November at 11am, there will be the annual Armistice Day Service held at Thorpe in the Fallows. This service is organised annually by the Lincoln and North Lincs WFA branch, and everyone is welcome to attend. Please be at the memorial for 10.45.
Thorpe in the Fallows can be found just off the A1500 Scampton to Sturton By Stow Road.
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On Wednesday 20th November at 11am, there will be the annual Cambrai Day service held at the Tank Memorial on Tritton Way, Lincoln. This event is organised by Friends of the Lincoln Tank and again, everyone is welcome to attend. Please be on site for 10.45.
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I was very pleased to hear once again from David Surr this week, who writes; ‘Memorials are now a staple feature of your newsletters; this contribution from the south coast may be of interest as Remembrance Day approaches once more.
The three great Naval Memorials in the manning ports are 100 years old this year. In Portsmouth, the Royal Navy managed to find enough sailors for a small event in the first week of October, a matter of days before this section of seafront closes for two years as part of the sea defences upgrade, and will never be quite the same again, as the masonry on the seaward side will be raised and reconfigured. The monument itself - which is Great War - and the oval WW2 extension behind familiar to all from recent D-Day events will not change in any way, but the area will be a bit of a mess with temporary footpaths and hoardings on Southsea Common.
Switching to another excellent article in the latest Bulletin by Mark Connolly on the incomparable Hyde Park Artillery monument. This made me revisit an article I had written in 2018 about Portsmouth’s civic war memorial in the city centre, which also had input from Charles Sergeant Jagger, master of the Hyde Park memorial.
At the time I was active in our civic society, and wrote it not just because it was the armistice centenary and it covered all of my current interests, but because the future of the Guildhall environment was being discussed in Council chambers, and it seemed obvious that some redundant ugly buildings from the 1970s boxing in the memorial needed to go. If only to show that someone cared about this, I met with the Conservation Officer and would like to think that my efforts had influence, though I doubt any Councillor ever read the article. The buildings were indeed demolished a few years later, and our wonderful memorial is no longer concealed but open and landscaped for the modern age, but it is a shame they are not spending money on the monument itself, now losing its battle with time and the elements.
It is now virtually impossible to obtain copies of Ann Compton’s books on Jagger, and I went to the V&A to photograph theirs. There is a story here that could belong to any era, namely the struggle to get enough money for a project and get it off the ground, but many of the great city memorials fared similarly in the difficult years after the war, and I doubt as any who stand before them today consider for one moment the sacrifices that the bereaved had to make to go the final mile and see these memorials built. The simple villages crosses and lychgates often have a single wealthy benefactor, but finding the money in the cities was a different ball game, and compromise was everywhere.
There is also the story of Jagger himself for convenience, expanded to give his war service in some detail, some educated guesswork as to just how much he did contribute to the project, and some notes on the memorial in the late 20th century, which did not treat it kindly. With Jagger we can get close to the Great War veteran mentality in a way that few other avenues now allow, and whenever I stand in front of one of his great bronzes it feels like my ancestors have returned.
Charles Sargeant Jagger and the Portsmouth War Memorial
There is a second link to share some of my own photographs to see it in the round. It is difficult to get any depth due to situation, and I remember getting up at unearthly hours in the summer to take them.
Portsmouth War Memorial
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Lincoln and North LIncs WFA Annual Tour.
The Lincoln and North Lincs WFA branch held its annual tour of the battlefields between 9-14 October, and this year the emphasis was on the 1915 battles of Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos, including attendance at the Hohenzollern Redoubt 46th Divisional memorial at Auchy Les Mines on the 13th for the annual service of remembrance.
As ever, the tour also included stops at locations and cemeteries requested by the tourists and there was just time to take in a whistle stop visit to Fromelles and discuss the disastrous attack there on 19/20 July 1916.
Wednesday saw the party drive down to Eurotunnel and as the afternoon wore on, we just had time to stop in the rain in central Lievin at the location of what was once Boot Trench, where Bill Pinfold regaled us all with the story of the death of his grandmother’s first husband on June 8th 1917 whilst serving with the Leicester’s.
Thursday 10th started at Neuve Chapelle at the site of the 2nd Lincolns attack on 10th March 1915 and their fortunes were contrasted with the bloody repulse of their neighbouring battalion, the 2nd Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).
Discussion at Signpost Lane, Neuve Chapelle.
Visits were made to the Neuve Chapelle church to view the memorials and battlefield calvary sited within. A good leg stretch was had exploring the surviving German bunkers in the Bois du Biez before the party visited the Indian memorial at Port Arthur followed by the Portuguese cemetery which is adjacent.
Calvary from the Neuve Chapelle battlefield displayed in the town church.
German bunkers
Indian Memorial
Jumping back into the buses, the party set out for Rue Petillon Military Cemetery where the Lincolnshire Officers killed at Neuve Chapelle are buried, including the commanding officer, Lt. Col. G B McAndrew.
This visit prompted Dave Ellin to write to me and he commented on my return; ‘First, I must say that I'm extremely jealous of your present visit to the Western Front, as Neuve Chapelle is where my granddad acquired his blighty wound on the 10th of march 1915, and also where Lt. Col. G B McAndrew died on the same day. I've seen McAndrew’s signature on granddad's Regimental Conduct Sheet when he ordered him to receive three days of Field Punishment No 1.
So for myself, there is no other sector of the Western Front that I'd rather visit.’ A very good choice Dave.
Officers died including McAndrew - upper central oval.
In addition to the Lincolnshire officers at Rue Petillon Cemetery, it is also the last resting place of Private George Dawson, who at aged 16, is believed to be the youngest Lincolnshire soldier to be killed in action during the war.
We then stopped at Rouge Bancs to discuss the 2nd Lincolns actions on 9th May 1915 at the battle of Aubers Ridge, and it was here that Corporal Charles Richard Sharpe won his Victoria Cross on this day.
Feeling a little peckish and in need of a drink, we returned to the bar opposite the Town Hall in Neuve Chapelle, only to find it closed. Fortunately, sustenance was at hand in the shape of a mobile burger and chip van. Here Frank East won his spurs with his gallant efforts to order a €4 bag of chips and came away instead with 4 bags of chips, much to the delight of the hordes of hungry battlefield tourists!!
Last stop of the day was at Chocolate Menier Corner to discuss the southern pincer attack made at Aubers Ridge on 9th May 1915 before a return to our hotel in Lievin.
If Thursday had been cold and damp, Friday was the opposite as the sun came out and warmed us up as we headed over the border into Belgium to visit the officers of the 1/4th Lincolns who lie in Dranouter Churchyard. Here we left poppy crosses and I gave a short talk about each man and his tragic loss.
Lt. Col. Jessop C/O of the 1/4th Lincolns lies at Dranouter.
Next stop was Locre (Loker) churchyard where we talked about, and paid our respects to Private George Collins of 1st Lincolns who was executed for desertion on 15th February 1915. Lying next to Collins are Privates Byers and Evans of 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers who were also shot on this day for ‘attempting’ to desert. All three men were very young and a brisk and forceful discussion ensued.
Collins, Byers and Evans - all shot at dawn.
Next location was Locre Hospice Cemetery where we found the private grave and cross for Major Willie Redmond, MP for Wexford since 1884 and a staunch Irish Nationalist, who laid down his life for King and Empire at the Battle of Messines on 7th June 1917, despite being a long time advocate for Irish independence.
Redmond, unlike his brother, was a moderate and sensible Nationalist who realised how difficult it would be for the Ulster Unionists to accept Irish independence, and he always wanted an acceptable and negotiated settlement, unlike the ardent Nationalists who favoured the armed struggle – see piece below about Robert Erskine Childers – On Willie Redmond’s death, he was bestowed with what many believe was a very fitting epitaph – “He was too good for politics”.
Major Redmond at Locre.
We then travelled to St. Venant, a new location for all of the party. St. Venant was well behind the British lines for most of the war, but was threatened by the German advance in April 1918. Being well behind the lines, the 1st Army Trench Mortar School was sited here and in Le Manoir De La Peylouse, the Indian Army HQ was established in 1915.
After the Indian infantry left the Western Front for warmer climes, the Portuguese took over the Manoir as their HQ. Sir Douglas Haig was a regular visitor to meet with General Tamagnini, who commanded the Portuguese in France. Whilst posted to the Manoir, Siegfried Sassoon composed his poem, ‘The Dug Out’, whilst sitting in the Manoir’s garden.
We also visited the town’s war cemeteries, St. Venant Communal and Robecq Road, the first of which contains a large number of WWII casualties sustained in the rear guard action in the retreat to Dunkirk.
After a pleasant stop for a beer or two!, we returned to Stafford Corner to talk about the Battle of Festubert, 15th to 25th May 1915, which was in effect a continuation of the Battle of Aubers Ridge which had been fought earlier in the month.
The day concluded with a stop at Le Touret Military Cemetery and Memorial Wall [See In Memoriam 1914 below – Ed] and finally at Gorre British and Indian Cemetery.
The start of the Lincolnshire panel at Le Touret.
On Saturday we detoured at Frank’s request to Lapugnoy Cemetery, and whilst Frank and his sons looked for their ancestor, I took the opportunity to place a poppy cross on the grave of Guardsman Frederick Nutkins, great uncle of Trench Lincs contributor Tony.
Mike Credland also knew that Lapugnoy was the last resting place of Brigadier General Gordon Shephard and he has very kindly provided some background information on this interesting soldier.
Mike writes; ‘Brigadier Gordon Strachey Shephard DSO MC
The son of Sir Horatio Shephard, a Madras High Court Judge, Gordon Shephard was born in India on 9 July 1885. The family returned to Britain in 1901 where Gordon attended Eton College and Sandhurst in 1903 and was an avid yachtsman, sailing around the globe. He was Gazetted 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Fusiliers in 1905 and learned to fly at his own expense, being awarded a Royal Aero Club certificate on 14 May 1912 and transferred the Royal Flying Corps.
In 1909 he had befriended Robert Erskine Childers. Although British, Childers was an Irish Nationalist, Home Rule supporter and author of The Riddle of the Sands published in 1903. For his political beliefs he was executed by firing squad on 24 November 1922.
In 1914 Gordon Shephard assisted Childers in landing 1,500 rifles for the Southern Irish Volunteers at Howth, Dublin on 26 July 1914 aboard two yachts. The outbreak of the Great War saved Shephard from serious trouble and he flew a B.E.2 over to France with the original RFC contingent, who pioneered the artillery co-operation role. He quickly rose through the ranks, was awarded a DSO and MC and promoted Brigadier General on 8 February 1917. On 19 January 1918 Shephard took-off from Bruay at 11.05am in a Nieuport Scout No. B/3106 on a flight to visit three of his squadrons. Just 10 minutes later his aircraft went into a nose spin and crashed at Auchel airfield and he died in hospital aged 32. He was buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery near Bethune, France with 20 Generals and 1,000 Officers in attendance along with Canadian Pipers and a firing party. Brigadier General Strachey Shephard DSO MC was the highest ranking RFC officer to be killed in the Great War.’
Childers, who had also fought for King and Country during WW1 and in South Africa was a complex character who was elected as a Sinn Fein MP to the Irish Assembly in 1921. An ardent Nationalist, he opposed the more pragmatic approach of Michael Collins and gave his support to the IRA in the civil war of 1922. Arrested by Free State forces, he was found in possession of a revolver and this was used as a reason to convict him and execute him.
Click here Robert Erskine Childers | Author, Politician, Activist | Britannica
A twenty minute drive found us back at Loos en Gohelle where we stopped to discuss the southern end of the opening day of battle on 25th September 1915 – specifically the actions of 47th (London) Division TF and 15th (Scottish) Division.
The main topic of controversy on this day is that Sir John French, the C in C, held the reserves too far back, and they were not available to Haig to exploit the initial successes. When the reserves arrived, including 8th Lincolns, they were tired, under resourced and thrown into battle in an uncoordinated and piecemeal fashion. This led to very high casualties and no further gains as the Germans counter attacked in their usual manner.
We took a drive up to the site of Bois Hugo, to talk about the actions of 8th Lincolns before parking at the relatively new Canadian Memorial Park at Hill 70. Here we were able to walk around the Canadian park and view for the first time, the new British Loos Cemetery Extension that is currently under construction.
The cemetery extension is being constructed by the CWGC in anticipation that some 1,000 to 1,200 bodies will be found as the French carry out two large infrastructure projects, namely a new canal extension and a new hospital in Lens. Already, some 20-30 new burials have taken place, all of unknown Scottish soldiers, and we just missed Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, who had attended at the cemetery only a couple of days before for the latest burial of two unknown men of the Seaforth Highlanders.
The newly constructed cemetery extension gateway with the first new headstones visible.
Canadian Memorial at Hill 70.
Another good lunch was had in what had been a Great War estaminet in Bethune, before we arrived at Fromelles and the new Pheasant Wood cemetery and visitor centre. The rain had returned at this point, so we let the visitor centre displays help tell the story of the futile diversionary attack made at Fromelles on 19/20 July 1916 by 61st British Division and 5th Australian Division.
The rain abated long enough to allow a walk to the so called Hitler Bunker and to the Australian Memorial Park and to the Australian VC Corner memorial wall.
VC Corner near Fromelles.
Sunday 13th October saw a welcome return of the sun as we set out for Auchy Les Mines and the site of the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Mike Credland’s 46th Divisional memorial, where the annual service would be held in the afternoon at 2pm.
Here we met up with Trench Lincs’ special Belgian correspondent Nadine, and her husband Philip. Jumping back in the vehicles we headed to Quarry Cemetery, where lies Captain Fergus Bowes Lyons, the late Queen Mother’s brother, who was killed on the opening day of battle.
A good talk ensued as I detailed the attack on 25th September 1915 by the 9th (Scottish) Division and the subsequent bloody fighting involving the 28th Division at the end of September and into early October.
We then returned to the site of Mike’s memorial, where I gave a talk about the 46th Division’s attack on 13th October and this was followed by a battlefield walk, aided by our good friend and local historian, Jean Luc Gloriant.
Lunch was provided in the Salle De Fete by the town council before we all assembled at the memorial in time for the service at 2pm. There was a good turnout of local villagers, as well as a formal party from the town hall, including the Mayor.
Wreaths were laid by the town, including local children and by Mike Credland, and the day finished with another reception at the Salle De Fete, including a speech by the Mayor. The annual hospitality shown by the Auchy Les Mines authorities is second to none and we all hope to be there once again in October 2025.
A last stop at Vermelles Cemetery concluded the day before our return to Lievin and an end of tour dinner for the whole party including Nadine and Philip.
Lincoln WFA branch Chairman, Mike Credland laid the wreath on behalf of the branch.
Whilst at the dinner, Nadine and I talked about her past contributions to Trench Lincs during the dark days of Covid. These wonderful tales of life in the town of Ronse during the German occupation of 1914-18 came from two first hand diaries, now in the town’s archives.
Trench Lincs now has many more readers than it did in 2020/21 and I am pleased to tell you that Nadine has agreed to repeat some of the main diary entries for us over the next few weeks. She will concentrate on the harrowing aspects of occupation, the daily resistance of the Belgians and those stories that have a underlying sense of humour. So, watch this space.
Monday morning was wet and dank as we set off for home via a stop at La Coupole, the WWII German V2 rocket complex that is now a museum and visitor centre. The story of the construction, by forced labour, is well told, as is a wider overview of the war, richly illustrated by photographs and videos. Fortunately for the people of southern England, this site did not enter service due to the well aimed bombs of the RAF and USAAF.
Next time you are in northern France, I recommend that you pay a visit and if you have time, the Blockhaus at Eperlecques is also worth a visit along a similar theme.
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TRENCH LINCS FILM REVIEW.
Last Friday I went to the Kinema at Woodhall Spa to watch the film, Lee, starring Kate Winslet as WWII American photo journalist, Lee Miller.
Kate Winslett met with Miller’s son, Antony Penrose, back in 2015 and it has taken nearly ten years for this project to arrive on the big screen, and what a treat it is. Winslett stars as Miller and also co-produced the film and right at the outset, I will say that it is the best and most emotive film I have watched since Schindler’s List.
Please do make an effort to see it, you won’t be disappointed.
The film tells of Miller’s life from 1938 until the end of the war and then jumps in very clever scene shifts to the year of her death, 1977. I had previously heard of Lee Miller, but did not know her full life story and have to admit to being somewhat shell shocked when I read this biography of her – click here.
Lee Miller | Biography, Photography, & Facts | Britannica
The film glosses over her early life, although reference is made to her having been a photo model prior to 1938, and it does not mention her marriage to an Egyptian railway magnate prior to meeting the love of her life, Roland Penrose, and nor does it mention her friendship with artists of the calibre of Pablo Picasso.
However, on her death, her son discovered her mother’s lifetime collection of war time photographs and was astonished as she had never talked to him about her war work.
Miller is portrayed in 1938 as a good time ‘gal’ whose philosophy is ‘alcohol, sex and fun – and as much of it as she can get’ – by her own words. After meeting Penrose, she moves with him to London and is caught up in the Blitz of 1940 where she photographically captures life in London and especially the role of women at this time.
She becomes a photo journalist for Vogue magazine and comes under the editorial wing of legendary Vogue editor, Anna Withers. Withers attempts to get Miller accreditation to follow the British Army onto the continent after D-Day but is rebuffed. Miller uses her American birth to receive accreditation as a war photographer with the US Army and accompanies the 83rd Infantry Division to Normandy in July 1944 where she graphically captures the scenes at an American field hospital.
Rather amazingly, in the heat of battle, she is forgotten about and finds herself right on the front line in the fighting to liberate St. Malo. Here and at nearby Rennes, she harrowingly records the plight of young French women who have their heads shaved for having collaborated with the Nazis during the occupation.
Miller is in Paris in August 1944 for the city’s liberation and then travels with the troops as the Americans enter Germany.
Miller has formed a very close professional relationship with another US photographer, David Scherman, and together they follow in the footsteps of the advancing US Army. As a result, they become the first photographers at the liberation of both Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps.
Anna Withers refuses to publish Miller’s terrible images of the dead and dying at Dachau in Vogue UK, a decision she regretted for the rest of her life until her death in 2001, but she did ensure that Millers photographs appeared in Vogue USA where they caused a storm as the realisation of the death camps became known.
Miller and Scherman eventually arrive in Munich where they find a billet in Hitler’s personal apartment, and on the day that Hitler committed suicide, she and Scherman set up one of her most famous photographs – that of her taking a bath in Hitler’s bathroom! See the web link for the photo.
Lee Miller in France 1944.
Throughout the film, and especially post war, Miller is portrayed as a heavy drinker and virtual chain smoker, but undoubtedly she suffered with undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of her wartime experiences.
The cinematography throughout is very graphic with the death camp scenes, very realistic, especially the fighting in St. Malo, a town that I know very well, and yet my wife summed it up at the end when she very correctly surmised that the film is not at all ‘Hollywoodised.’
I really can give it 10/10 and whilst I gather it has not been a huge box office hit (yet), I wouldn’t be surprised if Winslett isn’t put forward for an Oscar.
Photographer Lee Miller's Second World War | Imperial War Museums (iwm.org.uk)
PS – I noticed in the forthcoming attractions that a Great War film will hit our screens next month, called The Last Front.
Set in a Belgian village, the horrors of the German occupation become a reality for the villagers, until one ‘gentle’ farmer decides to resist…..! [Should be right up Nadine’s street! – Ed]
The Last Front (2024) - IMDb
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What better way to finish this week, a week in which the English FA have appointed a German manager, than with a football story.
As the fighting on the Western Front came to an end in November 1918, so the authorities attempted to restore some normality to life at home. This saw league football commence on a very regional basis with teams banded as Midlands, Northern, London etc. and a series of somewhat convoluted competitions eventually saw the winners of the Northern League, Everton, take on the winners of the Midland league [Wait for it – Ed!] – Nottingham Forest, in a two leg final.
The first leg in Nottingham ended in a 0-0 draw, but Forest travelled for the second leg to Goodison Park where they won 0-1 to become winners of the 1919 Victory Shield.
I found this remarkable web site, and if you like football and social history, please click on the WWI blog tab on this page 1918-19 Season Final Football Tables (englishfootballleaguetables.co.uk)
What became of the Victory Shield, I hear you ask! The Home Nations carried on playing for the Victory Shield every year at U16 level with England and Scotland being most often successful. Eventually, the Republic of Ireland was admitted to the competition, but in 2015, England decided to withdraw from this most historic competition.
Victory Shield - Wikipedia
Explaining the decision in 2015, Gareth Southgate, The then FA’s Head of National Teams at St. George’s Park, said: “We are reviewing our fixture programme at all ages and it is important that with England we are able to give players an International experience that compliments their club development and attempts to expose them to something different.
“At U16 level we may only have the boys for between 10 to 15 matches per season.
"Within that programme, it's important to prioritise exposing them to European and World opposition.
He continued: "We feel that within their club programmes, they face many of the boys that they would face in the Victory Shield and so these fixtures, whilst competitive and exciting, do not expose our boys to different playing cultures.
“Although we recognise the historic interest in these matches, we are intent on maximising the football learning of our young players, while forming the programme of fixtures for the year around the crucial academic commitments our players face at this age group.” [My underlining – Ed]
Probably another good reason to see the back of Mr Southgate as England manager, and as we now have a German manager for the English national team, perhaps we should invite Germany’s U16’s into the tournament as the ultimate symbol of reconciliation?
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IN MEMORIAM – The Lincolnshire Regiment 20th October.
1914
5511 Private J W Briggs, 1st Battalion. Buried in Guards Cemetery, Cuinchy, France.
6352 Private George Mitchell, 1st Battalion. Remembered on the Le Touret Memorial, France.
9589 Private Harold Bertie Neal, - Ditto. –
6930 Private Thomas Gorman, - Ditto. –
8742 Sergeant Edward William Sole, 1st Battalion, aged 24. – Ditto. -
1915
10288 Sergeant F H Varey, 6th Battalion. Buried in Pieta Military Cemetery, Malta.
9121 Lance Corporal J G Johnson, 2nd Battalion, aged 26. Buried in Lincoln (Canwick) Cemetery, UK.
1916
19333 Private J Gumm, 2nd Battalion. Buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery, France.
22850 Private J H Farrington, 2nd Battalion, aged 33. Buried in Bancroft British Cemetery, France.
22904 Private Herbert Toyne, 2nd Battalion. Remembered on the Thiepval Memorial, France.
16796 Private George Styles, 6th Battalion. Buried in Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, France.
1917
40854 Private E W Drury, 8th Battalion, aged 24. Buried in Bournemouth East Cemetery, UK.
36959 Private S Mays, 13th Battalion, aged 24. Buried in Locre Hospice Cemetery, Belgium.
1918
Twenty Four men, primarily of the 7th Battalion died on this day as the fighting neared the end.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Until next week,
Kind regards
Jonathan
Email me on: trenchlincs@gmail.com
© J C J D’Hooghe.
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