Remembrance

Thank you for this blog.. xxx

What a wonderful Blog DrBob i could feel all the Emotions myself just buy looking@your lovely Photos,Myself & fella will be attending a Service @ the Church Yard of My Dear Grandads Village where il be Placing a Cross for Him also ,

Thank you both, Jacque hope you have a good service. This is a sad time of year, the section for the Iraq victims was so poignant, so many happy smiling young faces on the crosses.

~our thoughts and prayers are with their family as they are out there to keep us safe here at home~

Very poignant Drb ..my prayer would be that lives lost recently are not in vain and some significant results will be seen from such sacrifice.

we will remember them

Hear, Hear BB, let's hope for the results soon.

So true have US relatives scarred by Vietnam service .. sincerely hope Afghanistan doesnt become ours ..hats off to people of Wooton Bassett who turn out in rememberance each time.

Yes, our eldest granddaughters boyfriend who is American lost twin brothers in Iraq, what a tragedy for the parents.

Losing twins ? Cant begin to imagine ...think a lot to be said for memorial gardens Drb even non gardeners can appreciate the sense of peace and solace within them.

~ Can't help but admire the people of Wootton Bassett who are standing in for all of us and must give some comfort from their prescence and conduct to those who have lost their loved ones~brings a lump to the throat when you see it on tv!

Aye Arlene .. so sad they seem to be doing this every day ..

~ I won't get into politics on here but they should be given the proper tools and enough of them to do the job!

Me neither ..sadly though the Russians had 250,000 there and couldnt overcome it and they lived next door...

Find it ironic that the Poppy our emblem of rememberance .. and yet Afghanistan dependant on its other properties ..is the poppy the right way to remember those fallen there?

I always watch the rememberance programmes every year and it always brings a lump to my throat, I am afraid it will even more this year.

This blog has brought tears to my eyes. Thankyou Doctor Bob.

LEST WE FORGET XXXXX

Thank you all for your kind comments, Yes Bulbaholic how sad that the meaning of the Flanders poppy fields and the Afghanistan poppy fields are so different. That makes us quite angry.
Sue I hope it didn't make you too sad, my wife and I visited one of her uncle's graves in Ypres a while ago, now that is a truly tearjerking experience. Thousands of graves in every available piece of land for miles around the town. You have to pass through the Menin gate to get into the town, it is a huge construction as a memorial, almost 56,000 names are inscribed on it of men who were never found in the mud, another memorial in the town has another 35,000 names on it. A memorial service is held at the gate every evening at 8 o clock, everyone comes and the people living near the gate open their doors and stand outside to join in, this is every day not just once a year. A plaque at the gate says "He is not missing, he is here." A wonderful tribute. We were treated with such kindness by the townspeople. We were very aware that all the thousands of Poppies we saw yesterday represents a person and then only a very small proportion of the people who have
actually died.

Now you have made me cry xxx God bless them xx

A very thought provoking blog, seeing all those tiny crosses really brings home the magnitude of debt, loss and sorrow.......all those young men..... husbands... sons.......brothers. Thank you Doctorbob

That certainly made me aware Doctorbob I can hardly see to type for the tears. Thank you for the blog . My grandaughter is going to a memorial service today with her school. I'ts good that they are involved from an early age.
God bless them all and bring them home safe. xx

BB I think you said everything i wonted to say, and like you say hope our boys and girls all come home soon, thanks for the blog and photos my eyes filled up.just looking at all those crossesand those young lives losts, my eldest son was a grenadier for a long long time, he went in the as a boy soldier when he left school, although he didnot go to this gulf war, he was in the first one in the 90's and also he did 2 six months in ireland. But i am so glad he's not in the army now and he is home safe, but it doesnot stop me worrying about these young lads and lasses who are risking their lives today.

Oh dear! Sue and Tulsalady, I didn't mean to make you cry. Clarice I am so glad your son is safely out of the army now, a brave young man.

Thank you Lily2 also, kind comments. I was not sure if I should put on a blog that has nothing to do with gardening, I am really glad I decided to do it.

I've sent you a PM Doctor Bob.

I commend you Doctor Bob. This blog is a tribute to all of the young people that have given their lives to protect the rest of us. Under the circumstances gardening is secondary.

~ Drbob~ it's not you that is making them cry but the fact that our lads are up against terrorists who are indoctrinated by those who hate Western civilization and don't mind dying because they will head off into a wonderful future life which is miles better than their wretched existence now.It's a bit unequal to say the least!

Well yes Arlene, I take your point.

I did think that Obama might make a difference but he is fighting to do things on so many fronts~ health care etc that he is getting bogged down a bit~ the reality of being the President unfortunately.

Thanks for such a thoughtful blog .I have a relative at Hermasville war graves near Ypres also my next door neighbour was traced as relative of a W.W.1 soldier recovered from that big crater (which I cant spell.)He and his wife went over to France to see their relative buried that was near the Menin gateI think the journey was organised by the war graves commitie. My first husband did three tours in Northern Ireland.

Lovely blog Doctorbob1 how lovely and thoughtful for you to place this on.

I wonder how many of those that lie in their graves are mps sons and daughters?, our forces are the peoples army etc, not mps they are employed to defend this country from invasion, so are we being invaded!!!!

They recruit these lads from poor tuff areas, you would nt see them recruit in Knightsbridge London, an mp had a question put to him, last year, why do they send young soilders to the front line, knowing they will die, his answer is we know, they think they are infalable, is the only reason, the presenter James Wales went mad.

~ I think the argument is not such much that we are being invaded as infiltrated by those who would seek to cause another 911 Morgana~ I think this is why the guys go out there, in the belief they are making a real difference~

Thanks DocB. I will be laying the Rotary Club wreath at the local War Memorial on Sunday. Have been to Tyne Cot cemetery, overlooking Passchendale three times. The lawns there are as well cared for as my living room carpet. Also, I have attended the Menen Gate "8 o'clock ceremony" in Ieper (Ypres) six times and have seen grown men cry while I fought my own tears back during the playing of the Last Post by their Fire Service. Visiting either of these can be unbelievably emotional.

Hi doctorbob a bit more information about my next door neighbours relative ,he was buried at Thiepval and on July first 2000,eightyfour years after he was killed.It was the MOD funded the trip.

I think you mean the Hooge Crater Mavis.

Thank you all, Ponty thank you for your PM. Yes you never forget visiting Ypres. Good luck laying your wreath, although I'm sure you have done it before, a real honour.
Mavis, thank you so much for sharing the story of your neighbours relative, amazing to think that he was found after all that time and wonderful he has at last been laid to rest. I had heard about this, really fascinating.
Don't the War Graves commision do a wonderful job? the graves are all kept absolutely pristine, it makes you feel much better when you visit to see how well they are being looked after.

Thank you so much Dr. Bob, we can never repay the sacrifices made by those wonderful men and women and those who are still sacrificing for us. God Bless them All and indeed LEST WE FORGET

Thanks Doctorbob for such a poignant blog. "We will remember them".
So many young lives wasted....both in the past and today...

A heartfelt thank-you Doctorbob from me too. I doubt if there is a family in this land or any other - who has not been touched by the enormity of war and the resultant heartache and loss. We will remember them indeed.
As to it not being a gardening blog.....on the contrary....every War Grave - large or small is a Garden... of Remembrance.

Well said Alz xx

I can’t agree Bonkersbon. Poppies were abundant in and around the battlefields of the Ypres Salient before they were blasted and trodden into the mud. This is why it is was adopted as the Royal British Legion’s emblem. It was also indelibly associated with the mass slaughter on the Salient in Colonel John McCrea’s most moving poem “In Flanders Fields”. Nothing could be more appropriate. DrBob, the 35000 or so names of those with unknown graves are on the massive memorial arc at the back of Tyne Cot Cemetery.
I always get annoyed when anyone disparages the Belgians (Thick, mirthless, How many famous Belgians can you name etc,.) The people of Ypres, in particular, are warm and friendly and very fond of the British as I am sure you found.

Yes, couldn't agree more Ponty, we were given every help by the people of Ypres, they were marvellous to us, we had a driver who took us up to the Cemetery and he waited for us for ages while we stayed there, he didn't speak a word of English but he came over and took photos of us together at the grave and didn't mind how long we took there. We were very impressed by everyone we met there.

Thank-you for this DRB my mother lost her father in the 1st ww and her husband in the second she never got to France to see the graves and never spoke of it. One has to believe that these great sacrifices which still continue today are forever remembered so that goodness continues to triumph over evil. May their loved ones know that we that grow old remember them.

Thank you Denise, another sad story, it seems nearly everyone has been touched by the results of war.

I agree Ponty ..the petals of the famous Flanders Poppy are symbolic of the blood shed on the battle fields and that is why at the Service of Remembrance - thousands of thousand of them fall from above in memory of those who fell in all the theatres of war. It is a wonderful and awe-inspiring moment of reflection and recall for all who witness it....and I for one think it is a very fitting way to remember those who died for their Country.

'Take up our quarrel with the foe,
To you from failing hands we thow
the torch; be yours to hold it high.
If you break faith with we who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields...'

John McCrae

In memory of my Great Uncle David, commemorated on the Menin Gate, killed at the Second Ypres, aged 25.

'He is not missing, he is here.'

Thank you, Doctorbob

Wonderful comment, Brenda..
.. for your Great Uncle David...

In the Daily Mail today it states that the Cenotaph ceremony has been televised each year by the BBC since 1946. It is the joint longest-running live televised event in the world... the other being Chelsea Flower Show.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments, God bless your Great Uncle David Bscott. It is always so harrowing for people not to know what happened to their sons, Fathers etc. I think those seven words "He is not missing, he is here" are some of the most poignant I have ever heard.
TT mentioned the Daily Mail there is also an article in it today about 250 soldiers who have been discovered in burial pits in Fromelles in Northern France, they went off to fight a battle 93 years ago never to be seen again. Now they have been found they are being identified and will all have a burial with full military honours, they are making a special cemetery for them in the village.
Get hold of a copy if you can it makes very interesting reading.

Thanks, Bob.
I have the article here and am planning to read it later....
...pages 54 and 55, to help anyone searching for it...

Sorry Ponty ..just to clarify meant is poppy right for those lost in Afghanistan to be remembered by ? It s growth and misuse funding the conflict there.

Apologies for misunderstanding ...not suggesting for a minute poppies should not be used to remember those lost in World Wars esp .

Misunderstanding. I'm sure that Ponty will agree Ray.
Just a thought .... but ......
I always watch the Ceremony on BBC. It starts tomorrow at 10.25am.
If anyone is watching on TV ......what would you think about meeting up on this blog tomorrow morning in order to observe the minutes silence together ??
I know that people will be at various places in person .... which is the ultimate .... but ... for those of us at home ... ??

What a nice idea Sue. I for one will be home alone....and viewing.... and would be glad to share those moments with any other GOYers who would care to join us.

~at work we always do anyway if the 11th of the 11th falls on a work day, and we stop all phone calls too so that it really is silent~ quite moving!

That is a lovely idea Sue, we will be at our local service tomorrow morning placing two crosses there as we always do. We will record the Cenotaph programme to watch later as it is so moving.
Our heartfelt thanks to the wonderful British Legion who have done and still do such sterling work on behalf of the armed forces in past and present conflicts.

A year or so ago, I attended the funeral of a very close friend... a wonderful lady who had lived well into her 90's.
She was very "senior rank" in the British Legion... and she had done decades of work for their cause...

In the church, there were many British Legion members with their special large flags etc. I had never seen anything like that before. Their contributions to the funeral service made it very special and memorable...

So many people do not know just how much the British Legion DO do Dr. Bob !
I hope you have the time later tomorrow to catch up on this blog. I'll be here xx

Yes - even in the shops and supermarkets here - they announce it on the tannoy and everybody stops in their tracks...with bowed heads.....it really is very moving as you say Arlene

Yes Sue, and we will definitely be watching the service from the Royal Albert Hall tonight as always. See you tomorrow here xx

xxx

...and me, Sue....
xxx

You're a good man Bob going the extra mile to visit the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, to place your crosses :-) It must have been very sad to see the young faces on those crosses, terrible loss of young lives.
I endorse everything everyone has said above.

Thank you Dawn, the Royal British Legion lay your crosses for you, they send us two crosses through the post in September we put our message on them and send them back, then they are put in the appropriate section depending on which regiment etc. they served in they served in. So even if you can't get there you crosses are still there.
Avis, how nice to hear you have crosses there too. What a shame if you can't get there to see the event. It starts with a short service outside and the Royal declaring it open and then you just wander, but as I said even in one section there are so many crosses packed together very tightly and you can't walk between them that it is impossible to see your own cross, but you know it is there. If you ever get a chance to go, do, it is a very moving day and you meet lots of other people to swap stories with, whilst you are all looking for your cross. I took several more photos but only wanted to include those I thought were most important. Unfortunately the Afghanistan section which was bigger than the Iraq one and also had photos on each cross was surrounded by people filming so we couldn't get near it to take a photo.

Good morning if anyone's there.

I'm here. 10.58.am.
Good morning.

Good morning folks...time to remember...xx

So am I ...

AMEN.....

This year I did not feel as though I was alone watching the ceremony. My Goy friends were with me.
LEST WE FORGET and God Bless them all. xxx

I agree Sue...usually I am alone here and this year I did feel I was among friends.
Thank you for that.
WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM.
XXX

What a brilliant idea, thank you all for meeting up on here. So glad none of you were alone. We have just returned from our local service, always very well attended. This year we have felt the time was even more special with so many of you sharing it. Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and special thanks to Ian digs v2 for his private message.

heard that another poor boy has died

Pleased you created this blog DrB. It has prompted some interesting memories and, awareness - not to mention the link up of the contributors. Great. There was a large turnout in my town - it gets bigger every year! Will be there again at 11am on Wednesday.

Very sad Pam, just goes on and on.
Yes Ponty I am really glad I decided to put the blog on, I have really enjoyed reading everyones stories, shows what a great family we are on Goy.

I had to go grocery shopping and the two minute silence was observed at my local Morrisons.The blog was a really good idea.

Doctor Bob. I really hope you don't mind me making this post on your blog, but what you say above about what a great family we are on Goy is VERY relative.

Bobg has left Goy.

He posted a blog about the young soldiers coming home from Afghanistan today in bodybags. In his words, he was 'pounced on' by members talking about gardening related blogs only please !!

Yes, I know it is a gardening site, and ALL of us on here joined because we love our gardens. BUT ... we are also human ! I felt the 'human' side of Goy when we were here at 11am on Sunday.

I feel so very, very sad. David says it perfecty......

Goy is not just a gardening forum .......it is an online community.

If I am asked to leave because of this post, then so be it. I HAD to say something and felt that this blog would reach the widest audience of the Goy 'family'.

Sue xxx

I'm with you, Sue. I've just found out about BobG and it's not on, it really isn't. I KNOW the guidelines say 'No politics' ( impossible, life IS politics, no escape, not even in a garden...) but there are people other than BobG who REGULARLY make political statements and are never 'pounced' upon by the gardening purists. Whether this is favouritism, or fear I really couldn't say. To post a blog about British soldiers ( any soldiers...) being shipped home from a war zone ( any war zone ) on the eve of November 11th is to show concern, respect and deep sorrow for the lives that were lost....after all, if it weren't for our armies fighting our corner, none of us would enjoy the freedom to play out in our gardens, would we? Think about it. Politics, yes.

If GoY is becoming a site for people who have no interest in anything OTHER than gardens, then I'm out of here too, Sue, and they can have their way, and I will be the first to wish them well of it.

A sad day.

Brenda
xxx

Sue & Brenda, of course I don't mind you posting your comments, it does say on this site that subjects other than gardening will be accepted for blogs, I checked that out before putting my blog on. I am not able to read BobG's blog as it has gone, but cannot understand why people would object to it, as you say it seems to show concern and caring. I would have liked to read it and make a comment. As you say life is entirely politics, everything we say and do is politics. I understand that questions need to be about gardening specifically, but as you also say there are many blogs on here which
bear no relation to gardening whatsoever. It is very sad that these things cause upset in the GOY community. Our lives after all are a result of these brave men and women making the sacrifice.

I didn't read the blog either but feel that this isnt politics...... its compassion...

The point is that people can choose to read blogs or not that is their choice, no-one is forced to read them if they are not interested. It gives an insight into peoples lives other than just their gardens, I feel I have got to actually know some people through reading their blogs.

I agree Dr. Bob. I've only been a member since August and I already feel that I have made some firm friends. I really thought that when the filtering option was introduced, it would please and benefit everyone. Apparently not.

I to would like post my DISGUST at those involved in yet another witch hunt. Whether the blog is gardening related or not the ONLY way to deal with it is to FLAG IT. DO NOT take things into your own hands and write unsupportive comments.
Bob always posts RIP type blogs and very welcome they are to, as it reminds us all how vulnerable we are. It is a sad day on GoY today, we have lost a very good contributor to our forum and all for a technicality.

RIP GoY

There appears to be no such thing as tolerance these days!
~ to all those out there celebrating the fall of the Berlin wall and the Stasi get over here quick because they are alive and well on GOY!

I, too, would have liked to see what Bob G had to say. I would have drawn my own conclusions as to whether or not it was political but if it was in context with this highly respectful stream at this time of remembrance (the very core of the blog) then we might have been permitted to judge for ourselves. If it was flagged by “garden only” contributors, why didn’t they use the filter? It was they, it seems, who prompted its introduction. DrBob’s efforts to bring us together at this special time has been blighted. Shame!

Doctorbob... It is 11 am. and I'm here. xxx
Thank you again for the remarkable photos.

its ironic that Ipicked up on this blog as I was waiting to observe the two minute silence.Are people not aware or not using the filter system?

~ they are fully aware Mavis but don't want to have to use it~ as I said tolerance towards others does not exist here on GOY!
As David also said, all the things that put the Great in GB,tolerance,compassion and community spirit appear to be in very short supply!

But why Arlene? the filter system is there to give you the choice over what you want to read or comment isnt it.I came on to this blog specially to observe the two minute silence as I knew you all would be here.

I too came on here at 11am this morning - to be together as we were on Sunday - with, as I thought - a tolerant community of like-minded people - in memory of all who have fallen - that we might have freedom - and above all freedom of speech. Something we in the UK have always felt passionate about.
Now - it would appear that our freedom of speech is in jeopardy and I am sickened by this. I too would have liked to have read what BobG said and judged for myself.
As others have said - Life is politics...politics with a small "p" ...and compromise. I am disappointed that so little compassion has been shown to a good and caring member of this forum whom I had come to know and respect.
I agree that this episode has tarnished what has been a very fine show of unity and remembrance and I am sorry Doctorbob that your beautiful blog in tribute to our War Heroes has been blighted in this way .and sincerely hope that those responsible will see the error of their ways.

Sorry I'm late to your blog DrBob ,it is what many of us were brought up with-to remember and show respect for others sacrifices.
My Dad fought in the 1st war,surviving with shapnel wounds, which prevented him joining the 2nd one. He was 16 when he enlisted and must have lost so many of his pals.
I did not see Bobg's blog but cannot imagine what would be so inappropriate at this special time in the year. Surely a reason for the filter if some don't agree !
The last 'tommy' may have gone but still there are those making sacrifices for us.
Lest we forget !

Lest we forget.

AMEN

good bog doctorbob, i will always rememeber, my great grandad lost his life in ww1 and never got to see his son, my gran was left to bring up my nan alone, i pass his name on war memorial where i live, i never met him but i feel the loss as many many more do with each war and all the younge men and women who die to protect us,
i would like to say i also feel sad to know that bobg has gone, he`s a good man and i feel he doesnt deserve anyone having a go at him, im glad i didnt get involved in the bad feelings yet again,

On this already sad day I for one feel extra sad that Bobg, a very valuable, funny and above all caring member, has been made to feel it necessary to leave. This is a big loss to GoY.

I agree, I read Bobs' blog and felt quite shocked at the response. He will be sadly missed.

Oh! my goodness, I arrived home from work to find what's been going on here. Thank you Aster it's never too late to join. I do feel sad about the problem which has arisen with Bobg's blog, we have been in contact.
Thanks to all who joined the two minute silence again this morning, my wife (Sylvia) went shopping and was in Waitrose for the silence, when she got to the checkout the assistant who was all of 18, was very sympathetic, he said " That was a good silence today, better than the one we did on Sunday, some moron marched around the shop talking loudly on his mobile phone all through it". As she said if it wasn't for all these people he wouldn't have a mobile phone to be marching around with, he'd be doing something quite different. I stopped work as usual on the dot of 11a.m. to observe it.
Thank you again to everyone for your wonderful comments, I have really enjoyed this blog.

Thank YOU DrBob....it has been a privilege to join in here and I applaud you for thinking of it......something which affected and still affect us all. .
Goy - most of the time - encourages sharing. Your blog here has been a moving example.

Hear, hear Alz. Thankyou Dr Bob x

Sorry, I'm late to comment on this blog too. I found it especially poignant this year, now that there were no WW1 veterans at the ceremony - so sad.

Thank you from me too...I have only just found out about bob & I'm really saddened this can still happen.xx

Hopefully through this poignant and thought provoking blog ..Bobg will reconsider and think its sadder to lose the friends you ve made than the ones you havent.

I did not see the blog but feel confident it was submitted with Bobs usual concern and compassion sad indeed that on a day such as this , someone unable to extend that in return.

I am sure that he will know how we are all feeling at losing such a fine member of GOY... A number of us have PM'd him reassuring him.... and I hope he knows how much he would be missed if he didn't return BB

Seconded, Alz.

Thanks from me too DocBob. A lovely and moving blog. :o)
....I just found out about Bobg too......It has really upset me to think that our good old Bob has been the latest target in the "witch hunt" movement.
The spirit of GoY really is changing isn't it? Such a shame.

it is nice to see sutch a responce to your blog on this subject, and it is specal to me even though my father and six uncles came through the secod world war , just after the war we had a chap lived by us who was not so luckie, he sufferd with shell shock, and yes they knew all about it they just did nothing about it, w had some waste land in front of our house and you could sea this chap reliving his experances, we kids thought it a grate laugh, and even the adults thought it quite funny,when ever I think about it now I cringe with shame,not for me I was just a kid and knew no better , but this country wrer it is the tredition that when we need the forces, they are hearoes but when we do not need them, they are nothing, so let us rember them all, all the lads that are maimed for life mentaly as well, and when the fight is won they are still the hearoes they were when we needed them.

This morning on the news I heard they are sending even more soilders out there, yet most people I chat to all want our Soilder back home it should be the mojority rule.

Come back Bobg we are missing you, I fully agree as you know with Bonkersbons words above.

Well said Cliffo .....and Morgana. The youth of yesteryear made the ultimate sacrifice for us....let nobody ever forget that.
And those who did survive many theatres of war are still too traumatised to talk about what they saw and were obliged to do...all in the name of world peace.
My late husband was an RAF pilot in WW2 and refused to talk about it....as he said..."The hanger doors are closed" ..and many of them said the same.

I lived on 2 RAF camps with my sister who was in the RAF also her husband who was an officer, so I know the minds of soilders who go to war also listening to my mother, how they are either shell shocked how people do not realise, how most soilders soil their selves when going into battle and especially when they observe their friend being shot to death or blown up, then have to continue to fight in soiled clothing as all their body functions go.

Thank you all for your continued comments, Alzeimer, it did seem that people didn't want to be reminded of what they had been through.
True Morgana, we can only try to imagine what it might have been like to be fighting not just for a few weeks but for years even.
Thanks Cliffo, what a sad story about the man, and thank you for bringing up the subject of shell shock, so many men had to live with it for the rest of their lives. It is strange what memories we keep from our childhood but as you say you could be forgiven as you were only a child.

Thank you for this blog Drbob. I thought I'd contribute by saying that I've visited war cemetaries in the UK, but also in Holland, France and Thailand. Every one I have visited has simply blown me away in its scale. But each one is just so beautifully cared for and maintained. Rows and rows and rows as far as the eye can see of spotless white stone crosses, manicured lawns with not a blade out of place, flawlessly clipped hedging, rows of rose bushes in deep and somber colours. The last one I visited was in a small town in Thailand near to where the infamous 'bridge over the river Kwai' was constructed. Thousands of graves. I walked along the endless rows reading the ages involved. Heatbreaking. It's impossible to grasp the magnitude of tragity involved. I have always found these places to be well visited and well respected by the locals. I just thought that would be comforting to those who know they have war graves in far off lands that they have never been able to visit.

Sid, Thank you so much for your contribution. It's fascinating to hear about cemeteries in other places, we always tend to think of the ones in Belgium and such like. It is overwhelming to see all those crosses isn't it, very emotional, i'm sure it is very comforting for people who can't visit these graves to know they are so well looked after. Thank you again for that.