World War One

[Oberon]

And now for something...well, I'll just copy what I found on twitter.

Mohamed Awaja has tended the British & Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in #Gaza for 28 years...



But the cemetery he cares for so well is itself in a battlefield today...




He has to deal with this-Israeli tank rounds hitting the British cemetery in #Gaza -this one didn't go off others did



He tends all the graves with the same great care in #Gaza whatever the British soldiers religion...

Thank you Mohamed, and the other men who work with you, and I hope that the war stays away from your corner of Gaza, a symbol that despite all the blood shed in the First World War, humanity as a whole, has still a lot to learn.

[Stealhead]

A friend from my Air Force unit and I once found a some what forgotten little graveyard while mountain biking in Germany.It was located in the woods NE of Waldleiningen,Germany. As I recall 15 or 20 graves mostly WWI but a few from the Franco-Prussian war.

The interesting thing was we found this place 100% by chance as we never made a specific riding plan we just packed some water and food and picked a direction and rode into the woods. Heck we rode 80 or 100 miles many times just exploring. It was pretty much lets see where this trail leads today and then we'd camp at dusk and head back to base in the morning usually arriving on post around dusk the next day that was the weekend.If a steep incline blocked the way we'd just climb up with the bikes on ours backs not sure I could do that now.

So you could say that it was pure serendipity that we found this forgotten grave yard and even better that we managed to find it again the next weekend after one of our German co-workers wanted us to find it again and find what village it was near(we usually did not take maps or composes).The first time we had ridden through the nearest village so we had to sort of back track by way of guessing.

Our friend got some people together and cleaned the whole place up very nicely.I would say that the place had been forgotten by anyone who cared since WWII.

That is what I miss most about Germany the exploring quite a bit of solace in the forest. Probably why they picked that spot in the first place it was surely where those old soldiers liked to be most of all.

[Jimbuna]

Mohamed

[TarJak]

My grandfather had two uncles who both gave their lives in WWI. The first died on Anzac Day, 25th April 1915 on the first day of the Gallipoli landings. The second died at Passchendale in 1918 a few months before the end of the war.

[TarJak]

Nice tribute at the Tower of London earlier this week:

[Jimbuna]

More on the above here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/w...of-London.html

[nikimcbee]

If I were a Hollywood director, I'd make a movie about the U-9 story, the events leading up to this event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-9



With the CGI today, they could make a pretty cool movie.

[Dread Knot]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

If I were a Hollywood director, I'd make a movie about the U-9 story, the events leading up to this event.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM_U-9

With the CGI today, they could make a pretty cool movie.

Would only fly in Hollywood if the plucky American liaison officers onboard the British cruisers, somehow overpower the crew of the U-9 and capture the Sooper-Seekrit cipher device.

Oh, and Superman/Ironman/Captain America need to show up at some point.

[Jimbuna]

Yes, that would be cool Jason but of limited audience interest I suspect.

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Dread Knot

Would only fly in Hollywood if the plucky American liaison officers onboard the British cruisers, somehow overpower the crew of the U-9 and capture the Sooper-Seekrit cipher device.

Oh, and Superman/Ironman/Captain America need to show up at some point.

Nonsense, the are all in their child years and iron man is not even born!

[TarJak]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-1...parade/5676328

Nice commemoration of an event mentioned here: http://subsim.com/radioroom/showpost...&postcount=125

[Platapus]

I just wish that someone would make a realistic movie (and video game!!!) based on the SMS Emden.

But then if someone were to read about the actual life of Karl Von Muller, some would believe it was fiction and not history

[TarJak]

Someone did in 1926 (Protugal) and 1928 (Australia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exploits_of_the_Emden Don't know how much survives or if any of it is accessible other than the clip here: http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/th...en/clip3/?nojs

This clip is focussed on the battle with HMAS Sydney and uses some of the footage from the 1926 film mixed with footage shot in Australia.

I'd love to see a modern version which gets into the story in more depth as well.

[Von Tonner]

Caught the back-end of a doccie on the battle of Messines Ridge. What interested me was the tunnels the British dug and the explosives they put in them. The number of men they killed when they set this off was staggering - and to be heard in London!!!

Hope Hamas never get to know this.


"British forces put careful planning into the Battle of Messines Ridge: for the previous 18 months, soldiers had worked to place nearly 1 million pounds of explosives in tunnels under the German positions. The tunnels extended to some 2,000 feet in length, and some were as much as 100 feet below the surface of the ridge, where the Germans had long since been entrenched.

At 3:10 a.m. on June 7, 1917, a series of simultaneous explosions rocked the area; the blast was heard as far away as London."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...messines-ridge

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

Originally Posted by Von Tonner

Caught the back-end of a doccie on the battle of Messines Ridge. What interested me was the tunnels the British dug and the explosives they put in them. The number of men they killed when they set this off was staggering - and to be heard in London!!!

Hope Hamas never get to know this.


"British forces put careful planning into the Battle of Messines Ridge: for the previous 18 months, soldiers had worked to place nearly 1 million pounds of explosives in tunnels under the German positions. The tunnels extended to some 2,000 feet in length, and some were as much as 100 feet below the surface of the ridge, where the Germans had long since been entrenched.

At 3:10 a.m. on June 7, 1917, a series of simultaneous explosions rocked the area; the blast was heard as far away as London."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-h...messines-ridge

Here's a bit more detail about the Battle of Messines Ridge http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/messines.htm. But yes mining or tunnel warfare was in fact fairly common during WW1 so much so that the miners on both sides would warn each other as to when a mine was going to be detonated. Another thing that might interest you is this http://www.firstworldwar.com/today/hawthorncrater.htm

The mine took seven months to lay, being 75ft deep and 1,000ft long. It was prepared with a 40,600lb ammonal charge by 252nd Tunneling Company. The resultant crater was 40ft deep and 300ft wide.

And this was at the start of the Somme Offence on the morning of 1 July, 1916.