WW1 Armistice General Pershing returns home

[Firelock76]

Miningman's mentioned Vimy Ridge, and guess what, I lucked into a short film on that magnificent feat of Canadian arms. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMJ_yjchLrc

Damn.  Good.  Soldiers.

[Miningman]

Thank you Firelock. The Vimy monument is quite stunning. 

Overmod-- Mike weighs in with 'they chose the wrong Bolero.

They picked the wrong Bolero to commemorate the Great War

 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/05/38/3a/05383a22add920a58af087f0346d9007.jpg

 

http://centenaire.org/fr/autour-de-la-grande-guerre/musique/maurice-ravel-un-musicien-verdun

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z2nk6sg

 

[M636C]

I imagine the situation in Canada was similar to that in Australia where a whole generation left from small rural communities, many never returned and of those that did many were seriously injured.

When I was at high school, a book appeared, "My Brother Jack" by George Johnston, an autobiographical novel. George's son Martin was in my class, so I made a point of reading it. It didn't mean much to me at the time, but subsequently I realised the meaning of the text. The book became a trilogy, but George died before the third book could be completed, and Martin finished it.

The book, set between the World Wars, made a point of  the fact that in many homes, the items required by returned soldiers, crutches, artificial limbs, and wheelchairs could be seen in the entrance hallways, and were not remarked upon since they were so common.

The government had standard designs for war memorials, and every small town and many suburbs had them, each listing the names of those that didn't return. These were hastily updated in 1945, with further names added underneath or to the side if there was no room.

Peter

[Miningman]

M636C-- Yes that's exactly it. Only differance is all the monuments here varied quite a bit. Yes the WWII names were added later on the same monument.  Many towns had cannons/artillery or the barrel mounted on concrete. There was not a town from the Pacific to the Atlantic without one. The 'lost generation' as they called it as it was the finest of a generation that died in such great numbers. Even up here in remote Northern Saskatchewan we have a Cairn outside the library/town hall building with a dozen names on it. Well known and recognizable names around town, mostly Native folk. Those Native settlements were small and scattered around here, usually 100-150 people but had been here for centuries. 

We had a small ceremony, maybe 50 folks in the cold and snow but the Bagpipes were present as usual. They say they don't wear underwear under their kilts but I sure hope they did, it was -17C. Gives credence to the phrase " freeze your a** off". 

[Overmod]

Miningman

Overmod-- Mike weighs in with 'they chose the wrong Bolero.'

I did not say 'wrong composer'.  The Ravel piece to have played was this:

 

[M636C]

While looking for something else entirely, I found this:

https://www.frenchrailwayssocietyarchive.org/FRS-Nord-Nord-Belge/

I was thinking of starting a new thread entirely, but this page includes quite a lot of photos of "Pershing" locomotives in operation on the Nord, as well as many other locomotives from the WWI period, including the "Orphan" Pacific 3.1150 that was at the workshops of SACM when the Germans invaded and ended up on the Nord basically because they needed anything they could get after the war. One possibly wartime photo of a Dutch 4-6-4 Tank lettered "ROD 2", from an order left in Britain in 1914 and taken over by the British Army.

The Canadian built "Pershings" converted to 2-8-2 Tanks in the 4.1600 series...

But basically amazing photos of the Nord, the best collection I've ever seen. Photos of one off locomotives, the Pacifics 3.1249 and 3.1250 before their conversion to Cossart valve gear (and after).

The most amazing Art Deco signal boxes (towers) I've ever seen.

The strange curved sided steel passenger cars which had either inward or outward opening doors depending on the floor plan.

Peter

[Overmod]

M636C

While looking for something else entirely, I found this: https://www.frenchrailwayssocietyarchive.org/FRS-Nord-Nord-Belge/

Yes! this find deserves its own separate post.  Note what else is in the French Railway Society archives, too...

[Jones1945]

Overmod

 

 

M636C

While looking for something else entirely, I found this: https://www.frenchrailwayssocietyarchive.org/FRS-Nord-Nord-Belge/

 

 

Yes! this find deserves its own separate post.  Note what else is in the French Railway Society archives, too...

 

Second that! That is one truly amazing Album, look at all those precious pics, drawings, and texts of those elegant steam locomotives of France! Jaw-dropping! You made my day, Peter.