This Post: Belgium and the Hauts-de-France region of France, with a focus on Canada's Great War. But first:
Travel Rules
- We broke our rule prohibiting overnight flights when we flew from Toronto to Brussels. Our rule was established years ago on a blurry post-flight morning when we acknowledged: "We are just too old for this shite!". But on this trip Brenda had time constraints and everyone had money constraints. That old saw that "rules are meant to be broken"? Not This Rule.
- Bryce used to travel a lot for work and would say he had "been to" a lot of countries. Molly decided he was embellishing his travel creds. Now we say we have "been to" a country only when we have (a) spent 24+ hours in-country, (b) left the airport and (c) been and eaten somewhere besides a hotel. There's a Really Small Country Exception to (a) -- e.g., The Vatican -- but we didn't think Belgium was small enough to qualify. We JUST met the terms of this rule: We have "been to" Belgium.
Belgium - Brussels (September 9 - 10)
We arrived in the City of Brussels early in the morning, checked into the Hotel Augustin, tidied up and began to walk. We focused on staying awake, adjusting to our new time zone, seeing stuff and buying European SIM cards. Success, mostly. We even managed to stay awake through dinner.
Brussels is the capital of Belgium, home to a number of European Union institutions, and officially bi-lingual (French and Flemish - but fear not, English monolinguals - most of the people we met spoke tourist English). There are beautiful examples of buildings in a large number of architectural styles.
All that sophistication and yet one of the primary tourist attractions is the Manneken Pis a 17th Century bronze statue of a little boy . . . peeing.
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| Bryce and Brenda At The Drug Opera Tavern (The Building Once Housed A Pharmacy And An Opera House -- Get It?) |
Brussels is the capital of Belgium, home to a number of European Union institutions, and officially bi-lingual (French and Flemish - but fear not, English monolinguals - most of the people we met spoke tourist English). There are beautiful examples of buildings in a large number of architectural styles.
All that sophistication and yet one of the primary tourist attractions is the Manneken Pis a 17th Century bronze statue of a little boy . . . peeing.
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| The Manneken Pis |
It would be hard to take a tour of Brussels and not be shown the Manneken Pis.
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| Tourists Viewing The Manneken Pis |
Perhaps this odd little statue is the basis for the local passion for comic books (Brussels is the home of TinTin) and street art. In our short time in Brussels we saw:
And, of courses, an homage to the Manneken Pis:
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| The Church Of Our Blessed Lady Of The Sablon (And A Fine Example Of The Type Of Shots One Gets On A Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus) |
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| An Inside Joke For Our Ontario, Canada Peeps |
Ooops - at some point during the trip we realized we had boarded the Route One bus which travels out to the cheesy-sounding Mini-Europe park ("See scale models of the most important buildings in Europe, all in one park!") and the Atomium. Those parks looked like great places to take kids. We had no children with us. Oh, well - too late to hop-off and find Route Two. On Route One we passed:
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| A Drive-By Shot Of The National Basilica Of The Sacred Heart |
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| Drive-By People Watching |
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| Hercule Poirot Worked Here (No, Not Really) |
We didn't see Mini-Europe but admit that from our drive-by the Atomium looks like it might be a more interesting concept than we had thought.
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| Oh (Duh!) I Get It -- The ATOM-ium |
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| Pretty Cool Sculpture, Actually |
After our drive-by tourism event we returned to our hotel, picked up our bags, taxied to the station and boarded a 19.00 train to France. All according to Bryce's Master Plan.
Hauts-de-France (September 10 - 14)
Hauts-de-France is the northern-most of France's 13 European Regions.
[Side Note: In 2016 there was a big reorganization of France's political jurisdictions. In France a lot of the government-provided tourist literature spends a confusing amount of ink explaining the local effects of these changes. We will try to stick to general and hopefully helpful geographical information.]
Our focus in Hauts-de-France was on World War I, but before we go there, here's information about where we stayed and what we saw that didn't have to do with war and death:
In Lille we stayed at the Grand Hotel (an aspirational name) which was memorable for having the smallest elevator we have ever seen. It is also clean, pleasant and in a great location - near the Lille Flanders train station and not far from restaurants and sights.
Our visit coincided with Eldorado, a city sponsored exhibit of giant street sculptures from Mexico, all of which made us smile.
Our full day in Lille actually wasn't spent in Lille, but on a day trip to Ypres, Belgium where we toured a disturbing and sobering number of World War I sights. See our War Tourism section below. Our second morning was spent touring the Palais des Beaux Artes de Lille. The museum is large and well worth a visit, though more than one piece deserved a good cleaning.
Map geeks should not miss the 15 military relief maps shown in the museum's basement. These maps are on loan from the Musée des Plans-Reliefs in Paris where there are apparently at least 100 others. That museum is now on our next-trip-to-Paris agenda.
These huge relief maps were created between 1668 and 1870 and are amazing as works of art, as historical records and as a look into the art of pre-20th Century warfare. The map of Lille was originally 60 square meters (almost 650 square feet) until it was captured by the Prussians in 1815 (or 1814, depending on one's source) and cut down for display in the arsenal in Berlin. This map was returned to France in 1948, no longer of strategic importance but still historically fascinating.
The maps are displayed at slightly above floor level and remind some viewers of doll cities -- with little cathedrals and castles -- and others of aerial maps. Guess who saw what.
We walked through Lille (lots of clothing stores) and visited the cathedral. We had been encouraged to see the light show at the cathedral the night before but after a full day of War Tourism we had given the show a pass. When we saw the cathedral we were sorry to have missed the light show -- the cathedral's clean, modern façade (dating from 1999) must be a great background for that type of show. The interior also has modern elements. A visit to this cathedral would be a great antidote to medieval church overload -- a sort of cathedral palate cleanser.
Next on Bryce's schedule was the 17.00 train to Amiens.
Our focus in Hauts-de-France was on World War I, but before we go there, here's information about where we stayed and what we saw that didn't have to do with war and death:
Lille
Lille is an ancient town which is now the capital of Hauts-de-France. Over the past thousand years it has been batted about between numerous political entities (Flanders, Burgundy, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and, oh yes - France). Our tourist assessment is that Lille is not a "must see" location, but is a good transportation base for train travelers. For example, Bryce found it was easier to arrange a day trip to Ypres, Belgium (officially Iepers, Belgium) from Lille than it was to travel there from Brussels. The mysteries of train routing.In Lille we stayed at the Grand Hotel (an aspirational name) which was memorable for having the smallest elevator we have ever seen. It is also clean, pleasant and in a great location - near the Lille Flanders train station and not far from restaurants and sights.
Our visit coincided with Eldorado, a city sponsored exhibit of giant street sculptures from Mexico, all of which made us smile.
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| Behind This Charming Monster Lurks The Grand Hotel |
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| On That Side Is The Lille Flanders Train Station |
Our full day in Lille actually wasn't spent in Lille, but on a day trip to Ypres, Belgium where we toured a disturbing and sobering number of World War I sights. See our War Tourism section below. Our second morning was spent touring the Palais des Beaux Artes de Lille. The museum is large and well worth a visit, though more than one piece deserved a good cleaning.
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| La plage de Berck (Detail), Vicompte Ludovic-Napoelon Lepic (1877) Not The Museum's Best Piece -- But Our Best Detail Picture! |
Map geeks should not miss the 15 military relief maps shown in the museum's basement. These maps are on loan from the Musée des Plans-Reliefs in Paris where there are apparently at least 100 others. That museum is now on our next-trip-to-Paris agenda.
These huge relief maps were created between 1668 and 1870 and are amazing as works of art, as historical records and as a look into the art of pre-20th Century warfare. The map of Lille was originally 60 square meters (almost 650 square feet) until it was captured by the Prussians in 1815 (or 1814, depending on one's source) and cut down for display in the arsenal in Berlin. This map was returned to France in 1948, no longer of strategic importance but still historically fascinating.
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| Lille (1740-1743) |
The maps are displayed at slightly above floor level and remind some viewers of doll cities -- with little cathedrals and castles -- and others of aerial maps. Guess who saw what.
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| How The Maps Fit Together |
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| Ypres, 1701 |
We walked through Lille (lots of clothing stores) and visited the cathedral. We had been encouraged to see the light show at the cathedral the night before but after a full day of War Tourism we had given the show a pass. When we saw the cathedral we were sorry to have missed the light show -- the cathedral's clean, modern façade (dating from 1999) must be a great background for that type of show. The interior also has modern elements. A visit to this cathedral would be a great antidote to medieval church overload -- a sort of cathedral palate cleanser.
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| Lille Cathedral (Interior) |
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| Very Modern Stations Of The Cross |
Next on Bryce's schedule was the 17.00 train to Amiens.
Amiens
Our accommodation in Amiens was a lovely two-bedroom apartment (Au Coeur d'Amiens, 15, Blvd du Cange -- borgesisabel4@gmail.com) with a view of one of the city's canals.
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| From Our Balcony in Amiens |
The apartment is within easy walking distance of several canal-side restaurants and we enjoyed dinner at Le 31 on our first night. On our second night we put together a quick-fix dinner "at home" from what we could find at the closest Monoprix.
Our one full day in Amiens was spent taking a day trip to the Vimy Ridge memorial and several memorials at the site of the Battle of the Somme. See our World Tourism description below. Exercising informed hindsight we would now choose to base out of Amiens for all of our World War I touring.
Our other acts of tourism in the city of Amiens were related to the cathedral. Brenda and Molly enjoyed a light show projected onto the façade of the gothic building on our second night. Bryce bowed out and missed a lovely show - but probably not the very sore bums the others got from sitting on the concrete viewing steps. Don't forget to take a pad to sit on.
The next morning we made a quick visit to see the interior of the cathedral before picking up a little rental Citroen box of a car at the tiniest rental lot ever. Next -- Normandy. But until that blog post, here is some information about the World War I related tours we took in Hauts-de-France:
War Tourism - The Western Front
The World Wars of the early 20th Century decimated Belgium and northern France and are now the source of a healthy War Tourism business. This area was the Western Front of The Great War.
[Side Note: History is written by the winners' writers. The Western Front, a relatively modest portion of the war, is the Great War that first comes to mind for most North Americans -- likely because of the number of English-language films and massive amount of English-language literature set in the Western Front (e.g., Siegfried Sassoon, All Quiet on the Western Front, A Farewell to Arms, Johnny Got His Gun, Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, War Horse, 1917, etc. etc.). In comparison, the Middle-East campaigns have T.E. Lawrence and Lawrence of Arabia; Gallipoli has Mel Brooks and ongoing recognition in Australia; and Africa (where European powers fought little-known campaigns to obtain / maintain colonies) has only The African Queen. The bloodiest campaign of the war, the Eastern Front, has so few English-language books and movies that we can't think of one. Let us know if you have come across any!]
We also point out this extremely large gap in case any of our information turns out to be incorrect. We are not alone.
We attempted to focus our visit on the Canadian Western Front experience although it wasn't always clear when Canadians fought as Canadians rather than simply citizens of the Empire. For example, there was no separate Canadian air corps until 1920. Again, for context, here are some statistics from the Canadian War Museum:
[Side Note: History is written by the winners' writers. The Western Front, a relatively modest portion of the war, is the Great War that first comes to mind for most North Americans -- likely because of the number of English-language films and massive amount of English-language literature set in the Western Front (e.g., Siegfried Sassoon, All Quiet on the Western Front, A Farewell to Arms, Johnny Got His Gun, Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy, War Horse, 1917, etc. etc.). In comparison, the Middle-East campaigns have T.E. Lawrence and Lawrence of Arabia; Gallipoli has Mel Brooks and ongoing recognition in Australia; and Africa (where European powers fought little-known campaigns to obtain / maintain colonies) has only The African Queen. The bloodiest campaign of the war, the Eastern Front, has so few English-language books and movies that we can't think of one. Let us know if you have come across any!]
Some Mind-Boggling Context
Our blog can't possibly educate anyone on the horror show that was World War I -- but here is some basic information to put what we saw into perspective (thanks, Wikipedia):- 8.5 - 10.8 million military dead or missing;
- 23 million military wounded; and
- 7.7 - 8.3 million civilian deaths.
- imprecise / non-existent census data pre-and-post conflict;
- disagreements as to whether / how many deaths of starvation and the 1918 influenza pandemic should be deemed war-related; and
- the difficulty in allocating Eastern Front deaths between World War I and the overlapping Russian Revolution.
We also point out this extremely large gap in case any of our information turns out to be incorrect. We are not alone.
We attempted to focus our visit on the Canadian Western Front experience although it wasn't always clear when Canadians fought as Canadians rather than simply citizens of the Empire. For example, there was no separate Canadian air corps until 1920. Again, for context, here are some statistics from the Canadian War Museum:
- 619,636 Canadians were mobilized (from a population of 8 million - more than 7.5%);
- 59,544 of those died during the war; and
- 172,000 were wounded.
Ypres / Iepers - Belgium
We traveled from Lille back into Belgium by train and arrived in the town of Ypres a little earlier than necessary to meet up with our tour. Sadly we were also earlier than the local coffee shops' opening hours. We spend our (coffee-free) time visiting the Menin Gate.The names of 54,395 Commonwealth soldiers missing in action in the Ypres Salient (an area of land held by the Triple Entente and surrounded on three sides by the Central Powers) was a sobering introduction to our day. That's a lot of unidentifiable humans. Even more disturbing is the fact that the memorial was eventually deemed too small to include those missing in action after August 15, 1917. Over 34,000 names of the Ypres Salient missing are listed elsewhere.
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| Bryce At The Menin Gate |
We met our small tour at The British Grenadier bookstore -- Canadian owned and operated. We were provided information and maps and overwhelming statistics. We were driven to the area's Canadian-related memorials.
In Flanders Fields
All Canadian children used to learn the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae, a surgeon for the 1st Canadian Field Artillery from Guelph, Ontario. The reference to poppies blowing between crosses "row on row" is why Canadians still wear and display red poppies on Remembrance Day. |
| A Plaque of In Flanders Fields By John McCree |
The first two stanzas of the poem are a moving tribute to the fallen -- but then McCrae goes into full-on Victorian era morality and urges readers to "Take up our quarrel with the foe" and threatens that "If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep,". Basically: Keep killing the Other Guys or your buddies will haunt you. Ugh. A disturbing insight into the culture of the times and an answer about why the fighting went on - and on - and on.
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| The Cross of Sacrifice At Tyne Cot Cemetery Located Above A German Gun Emplacement |
The Commonwealth cemeteries are often beautiful. We visited the huge Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world - for any war. The name "Tyne Cot" was given to the battle area when soldiers of the Northumberland Fusiliers decided the many German gun emplacements looked like cottages in Tyneside, an area in the north of England.
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| Tyne Cot Cemetery |
Each headstone for an unknown Commonwealth soldier bears the phrase "Known Unto God". This phrase was chosen by Rudyard Kipling who joined the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC, predecessor to the present-day Commonwealth War Graves Commission) in 1917 as its first "literary advisor". Kipling's son John had been declared missing, presumed dead in 1915. His remains were not identified until the 1990's.
Each headstone for an unknown soldier also bears a cross. More insight into the beliefs of the members of the IWGC than the beliefs held by the unknown deceased.
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| Names Without Bodies At The Menin Gate Bodies Without Names In The Cemeteries |
Known combatant dead are represented by their country 's emblem (Canadians by the maple leaf), individual regimental number, rank, name, military unit, date of death, age at death, medals awarded and statements requested (and paid for) by their family.
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| J.P. Robertson One Of 73 Canadian Victoria Cross Recipients During World War I |
[Side Note: Here's a brief and cynical summary of what we remember about the evolution of the Commonwealth war cemeteries in France into the beautiful and moving memorials that exist today: Initially there was no plan for dealing with what too quickly became a vast number of war dead. For sanitary reasons bodies had to be buried as quickly as possible and thus the dead were buried close to where they fell. In 1917 the British government established the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). By then the Empire had concluded that repatriating the dead would be not only a logistical nightmare but a public relations disaster. The fallen of the Western Front were to remain in France or Belgium. Later, as the dead evolved into the Brave Fallen Honored By A Grateful Empire the burial sites were consolidated into the sort of beautiful cemeteries we see today.]
Some visitors might find the German cemetery at Langemark less glorifying and thus more moving. The German war graves are maintained by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgraberfursorge, that country's war graves commission.
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| Langemark Cemetery |
We visited The Brooding Soldier located in St. Julien, Belgium. This monument is a giant column topped by a pensive soldier holding his rifle in the "arms reversed" position used to honor the fallen. The soldier faces the direction from which the first gas attack on the Western Front was unleashed on April 22, 1915. The brunt of that attack was felt by French Algerian colonial troops.
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| The Brooding Soldier |
After our day contemplating war, destruction and loss we returned to Ypres where we caught an afternoon train back to Lille. We did not stay for the Last Post at the Menin Gate though we have heard it is a very moving ceremony. It had been a long day for all of us. And Molly was having difficulty sticking with the reverently somber script -- she had become very, very angry at generals and politicians long dead.
Vimy Ridge -- France
The Canadian Expeditionary Force's (CEF) role in achieving victory at Vimy Ridge is often referred to as a defining moment in the evolution of Canada's national identity. The Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 9 - 12, 1917) was the first time the four divisions of the CEF, composed of troops from all parts of the vast Dominion of Canada, had fought together. Their victory resulted in the CEF being recognized in Canada and the U.K as a cohesive and effective military force. Something every aspiring new country needs.
Today the escarpment known as Vimy Ridge is part of a 250 acre battlefield park on land granted to Canada by France. Portions of the park remain closed to the public for safety reasons (unexploded ordnance) - wars' ecological damage.
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| The Canadian National Vimy Memorial |
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| Once There Were Trenches |
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| A Trench Replica -- Without The Rats |
The First Battle of the Somme - France
The "First Battle of the Somme" actually refers to some 13 separate battles fought between July 1 and November 18, 1916 in an area along the Somme river in France. The area in which these battles raged and stumbled is now home to numerous memorials to the million plus men who died or were lost or wounded there. We visited a number of Canadian memorials:The Newfoundland Regiment. The French village of Beaumont-Hamel was nearly destroyed during the war. Nearby, on the official first day of the Battle of the Somme -- among a multitude of horrors that took place July 1, 1916 -- 80 percent of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (RNF) died, were lost or wounded in the span of 30 minutes. This event continues to be remembered every July 1 in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
In 1921 the then Dominion of Newfoundland (which became part of Canada in 1949) purchased the 74-acres of land over which the RNF made their ill-fated attack from some 250 French landowners. This memorial park is the location of several memorials, including the impressive bronze caribou which honors the Royal Newfoundland Regiment's sacrifice.
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| Beaumont-Hamel Memorial To The Royal Newfoundland Regiment |
The Courcelette Monument sits beside a highway outside of the Village of Courcelette, France. It was created to honor the Canadian Expeditionary Force's efforts in the Battle of the Somme.
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| The Courcelette Monument Surrounded By Maple Trees |
The ADANAC Cemetery. The ADANAC (Canada, reversed) Commonwealth War Grave Commission cemetery is a relatively small cemetery near the village of Courcelette.
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| ADANAC Cemetery |
The Neuville-St. Vaast Cemetery contains the remains of 44,843 German military dead.
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| A Different Esthetic of Death |
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| Among The German Dead -- A Particularly Poignant Grave In Light Of What Came Later |
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| Bryce and Our Guide, Leh, At The Lochnagar Crater |
Uncle Geordie's War (Updated)
Our World War I site visits were made particularly poignant because of a family connection. Bryce and Brenda had always known that their mother's uncle, George Mouncey (Uncle Geordie) had served during World War I, seen combat in France and suffered breathing problems as a result of his service. Before our trip they got a copy of his service record (primarily medical and pay records) to learn more. Here's what we were able to piece together:
On September 23, 1914, shortly before his 17th birthday*, George Albert Mouncey of Roseneath, Ontario enlisted in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force (CEF). He swore to defend King George V, His Heirs and Successors in Person, Crown and Dignity and was given the regimental number 42551. He honored his obligation to the King until April of 1919 -- for more than four and a half years -- and for this service a grateful Empire paid him $1 a day.
* In 1914 the minimum age for enlistment in the CEF was 18. Uncle Geordie's military records identify him as having been born October 30, 1896 and in September 1914 having an "apparent age" of 18 years, 11 months. Feel free to do the math - we get 17 years, 11 months. Subsequent government records show Uncle Geordie as having actually been born a year later - in October 1897 - which means he enlisted at 16 years, 11 months.
* In 1914 the minimum age for enlistment in the CEF was 18. Uncle Geordie's military records identify him as having been born October 30, 1896 and in September 1914 having an "apparent age" of 18 years, 11 months. Feel free to do the math - we get 17 years, 11 months. Subsequent government records show Uncle Geordie as having actually been born a year later - in October 1897 - which means he enlisted at 16 years, 11 months.
Uncle Geordie served as a gunner, assigned during his time in France first to the 4th Battery of the 1st Brigade of the Canadian Field Artillery (CFA) and in late 1915 to the 9th Battery of the 3rd Brigade of the CFA.
He arrived in France early in 1915. His record is fairly quiet until 1917.
In April, 1917 he sustained a left shoulder wound. There is no description of how he was wounded so it is possible it was an industrial-style accident (note the lack of safety gear in the above picture) rather than the result of enemy fire. After ten days in a field hospital he was returned to duty where less than a month later he was re-injured -- this time in the left hand. We suspect he was left handed, like his great nephew, Bryce!
His hand injury was treated in England and he was discharged after six weeks, on June 19, 1917. Two months after his discharge from hospital he was back in hospital in England being treated for an ear inflammation. There is no information about whether he was in France in the interim. On September 20, 1917 he was discharged and returned to France.
He was injury free for a year, but from November 8 to November 25 he was in the hospital in England with influenza. Uncle Geordie must have learned that the war was over while suffering from the deadly 1918 Flu. Clearly he was one tough kid.
Notwithstanding family lore, his military record doesn't contain any mention of his having been in a gas attack. The breathing problems the family remembers may have related to the influenza or to his ear infection - or to gas inhalation that never got reported.
There is little in the record about where his artillery batteries served and we have had difficulty piecing together which battles he was in. He was in a field hospital during the Battle of Vimy Ridge and somewhere in France during the Battle of the Somme. His medical record contains mention of his having sustained a nose injury "about 9 months ago" - or in late 1916 - "in the Somme".
At the time of his demobilization in April of 1919, Uncle Geordie was a corporal. A disability determination assigned him to one month of treatment for the inflammation in his ear and his only permanent disability was deemed to be a slight deformity in a finger of his left hand. Neither was found to be the result of "intemperance or improper conduct" or sufficient to grant him invalid status.
Uncle Geordie went home to Roseneath. In 1922 he married and he died in 1971 at 74 years of age (or 75 if you go by the age on his military records). The family does not remember him as having anger or substance abuse problems. Three years of hauling, loading and firing deafening guns and listening to guns fired in his direction does not seem to have kept him from living with and caring about others. We don't know how well he slept.
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| Uncle Geordie May Have Been In A Similar Unit |
He arrived in France early in 1915. His record is fairly quiet until 1917.
In April, 1917 he sustained a left shoulder wound. There is no description of how he was wounded so it is possible it was an industrial-style accident (note the lack of safety gear in the above picture) rather than the result of enemy fire. After ten days in a field hospital he was returned to duty where less than a month later he was re-injured -- this time in the left hand. We suspect he was left handed, like his great nephew, Bryce!
His hand injury was treated in England and he was discharged after six weeks, on June 19, 1917. Two months after his discharge from hospital he was back in hospital in England being treated for an ear inflammation. There is no information about whether he was in France in the interim. On September 20, 1917 he was discharged and returned to France.
He was injury free for a year, but from November 8 to November 25 he was in the hospital in England with influenza. Uncle Geordie must have learned that the war was over while suffering from the deadly 1918 Flu. Clearly he was one tough kid.
Notwithstanding family lore, his military record doesn't contain any mention of his having been in a gas attack. The breathing problems the family remembers may have related to the influenza or to his ear infection - or to gas inhalation that never got reported.
There is little in the record about where his artillery batteries served and we have had difficulty piecing together which battles he was in. He was in a field hospital during the Battle of Vimy Ridge and somewhere in France during the Battle of the Somme. His medical record contains mention of his having sustained a nose injury "about 9 months ago" - or in late 1916 - "in the Somme".
At the time of his demobilization in April of 1919, Uncle Geordie was a corporal. A disability determination assigned him to one month of treatment for the inflammation in his ear and his only permanent disability was deemed to be a slight deformity in a finger of his left hand. Neither was found to be the result of "intemperance or improper conduct" or sufficient to grant him invalid status.
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| George Albert Mouncey (L) and His Friend Earl Thackeray (R) |
Uncle Geordie went home to Roseneath. In 1922 he married and he died in 1971 at 74 years of age (or 75 if you go by the age on his military records). The family does not remember him as having anger or substance abuse problems. Three years of hauling, loading and firing deafening guns and listening to guns fired in his direction does not seem to have kept him from living with and caring about others. We don't know how well he slept.
Thank you for your service, Uncle Geordie.
Photo Story: The above picture of Uncle Geordie and his friend from Roseneath, Earl Thackeray, was not included in the original version of this post. It was provided to us by Bryce's friend from childhood and reader of our blog, David McCracken -- Earl Thackeray's grandson. Earl and Uncle Geordie were artillerymen in France; this picture seems to have been taken around the time they were discharged, as they did not enlist at the same time. The story of this picture and the friendships that span generations does seem to say that life goes on - even after a terrible war. That idea makes us smile. Thank you for sharing, David!
Photo Story: The above picture of Uncle Geordie and his friend from Roseneath, Earl Thackeray, was not included in the original version of this post. It was provided to us by Bryce's friend from childhood and reader of our blog, David McCracken -- Earl Thackeray's grandson. Earl and Uncle Geordie were artillerymen in France; this picture seems to have been taken around the time they were discharged, as they did not enlist at the same time. The story of this picture and the friendships that span generations does seem to say that life goes on - even after a terrible war. That idea makes us smile. Thank you for sharing, David!
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