World War 1 Memoirs and Diaries , by soldiers, nurses and chaplains. 'With the advent of the world wide web, an opportunity arose for the descendants of many survivors to publish fragments of diary entries for the education and interest of others. '
The diary of Edwin Jones, who fought in Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Via the
firstworldwar.com website,
which also features
poetry and prose (including an overview of British World War 1
satire and
how it reflected the class system at the time);
propaganda posters;
and miscellaneous
features on everything from
the
Christmas truce to
the
disputed sexuality of T.E. Lawrence.
Related :- an
interview with one of
the last British WW1 survivors, aged 107 ('I survived the trenches - and would
never go back'), and the BBC's
80th anniversary site, which includes five poignant, sometimes tragic, letters from soldiers to family and friends.
posted by plep
on Mar 31, 2003 -
8 comments
"The Christmas truce was the last twitch of the 19th Century. By that, I mean it was the last public moment in which it was assumed that people were nice, and that the Dickens view of the world was a credible view." --
Paul Fussell
The Christmas Truce of 1914 is an interesting footnote in history where German and British soldiers stopped fighting and fraternized in the middle of the battlefield. Some witnesses have claimed that enemy soldiers played a friendly
game of soccer.
The events have since been chronicled in
print,
song, and on
film.
posted by MattS
on Dec 14, 2001 -
4 comments
In Flanders Fields - by John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
MetaFilter readers wherever you are, please take a moment of silence to honour those who gave their lives so that we could live ours.
posted by PWA_BadBoy
on Nov 11, 2001 -
75 comments
