Nimy Railway Bridge

The first action of 23 August 1914 took place around Nimy railway and road bridges, defended by the Royal Fusiliers. The canal here formed a bend, which created a salient on the right flank of the British II Corps, and the railway bridge was defended by infantry and the Fusiliers two Maxim machine guns, commanded by Lt Maurice Dease. One of these guns was kept in action by Lt Dease and Private Godley, and after Dease had been seriously wounded 5 times (he would die later in the day) Godley manned the gun until he too was badly wounded (he survived to be taken prisoner). Both were awarded the VC, the first of the war to be awarded.

The canal has been concreted over elsewhere to become a motorway, but is still there where the railway bridge is, although the canal has been widened since 1914 and the bridge is not the original. If you saw the first episode of BBC's Our World War this covered this action, but they showed the bridge as a road not a railway bridge (oops!). Here are some photos of the bridge today, and of Lt Dease's grave in St Symphorien cemetery. Also in St Symphorien are the first British casualty of the war Pte Parr, and the last casualties from 1918. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First (and last) shots of the Great War

As I mentioned, we spent the weekend in Mons to commemorate the centenary of the battle. We had a great weekend and were able to see many of the places where action took place, including Nimy Bridge and Obourg railway station, and I'll post... photos following this post.

I'll try to do this in (1914) chronological order, so to begin with here's a photo of the spot commemorating the first (British) shot of the Great War on the road going into Mons, which was on 21st August, the first and (allegedly) last shots of the war, which are on opposite sides of the same road a few yards apart, and a view going down the road leading into Mons - the car is about where the German cavalry were when fired upon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mons 2014

As the centenary of the Battle of Mons approaches, I'm off to Mons for the event. We'll be travelling with Leger holidays, so no driving for me for once!

There will be commemorations in the town and at St Symphorien CWGC cemetery - which will be really interesting to visit as it contains almost equal numbers of Allied and German dead, and the graves of the first and last British casualties of the War. I will of course be posting photos!

Lest we forget

Today is the centenary of Britain's declaration of war in 1914 (not the centenary of the start of the war as Germany was at war with both Russia and France before today!).

I am going to support the "Lights Out" movement by only having one light or candle alight in the house between 10pm and 11pm today. This commemorates Sir Edward Grey's famous "the lamps are going out all over Europe - we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime". Hope you can support this too.

Lest we forget.

War and Peace Revival show

Hot on the heels of Battlegroup South comes the War and Peace Revival show at Folkestone Racecourse. The show runs from Wednesday to Sunday this week and proudly claims to be the biggest gathering of re-enactors and military vehicles on the planet. I can't say whether or not that's accurate of course but there are an awful lot of them!

 

We will be doing our "bit" in the Model Halls underneath the main grandstand, so if you do come to the show - and if you can it is very well worth a visit - do stop by and say hello! There are always lots of WW1 re-enactors there and sometimes some WW1 vehicles too so I will post up any pictures I take when I get back.

 

This is my annual dose of camping, which is fun (sometimes) and uncomfortable (sometimes) too! Hopefully the sun will shine....But it is well worth it to be on the "inside" after the public have gone, as that's when the fun begins!

Photos from Bovington Tank Museum

We had a great time at Bovington this weekend, and it was good to see and chat to so many people! As with last year we had a great position right in front of the Tiger II, which if you haven't seen one "for real" is unbelievably huge!

Unlike last year the A7V German WW1 tank replica was in the WW1 hall, so I took lots of pictures! It is a copy of one of only 20 or so A7Vs that were made, and even when you are standing next to it looks very realistic. In fact it is entirely made of wood on a tractor chassis - the driver sits at the back (as he would on a tractor) and has to steer by TV camera looking out of the front! I took some photos of one or two other WW1 items in the museum such as the Rolls Royce Armoured car and the Graincourt German 77mm Gun (captured by the British in 1917). These are attached, together with some more photos of our game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tank Museum Bovington

Tomorrow we are off to the Battlegroup South show at the Tank Museum, Bovington. It's a great show, and you may remember that last year our game was sited right next to the Tiger II - and it may well be in the same place again this year!

I took lots of photos of WW1 tanks in the museum last year which are posted below, so this year I'll try to limit myself to anything "new" that I didn't shoot last year. They may for example have the replica A7V in the museum, as last year that was being cleaned following Tankfest. So, watch this space (or rather this blog!) for updates next week.