Sheffield Pals at Bramall Lane

[JJ Sefton]

Thanks for the info Walthy. will keep em peeled reguarding the books .

I read a fascinating book called Ireland's Great War by Kevin Myers a bit back. As the title suggests, it was about Ireland's role in the war.

 

[dublin 10 blade]

I read a fascinating book called Ireland's Great War by Kevin Myers a bit back. As the title suggests, it was about Ireland's role in the war.

As your probably aware Kevin Myers is a bit of an enigma over here , some of his writings , particularly his columns for the Irish times and Sunday times Irish editions , before he was sacked after one particular odious piece
Left you wincing at times , yes he is entitled to his opinion but some of his pieces where ( and as an experienced journalist he should have known this ) naive in there attempts to shock / inform / get a response from people
Attacking Jewish women ( people) working in the BBC in 2017 , I think was the straw that broke the camels back
Although his statements on the holocaust saying stop giving aid to Africa or asking single parent families , are they happy raising bastards , are only a few topics he raised that could have raised offense , means he is finished now as a journalist as no one will hire him .
And yes his defense of those Irish men and women who fought in the wars are to be commended , and rightly so

 

[JJ Sefton]

As your probably aware Kevin Myers is a bit of an enigma over here , some of his writings , particularly his columns for the Irish times and Sunday times Irish editions , before he was sacked after one particular odious piece
Left you wincing at times , yes he is entitled to his opinion but some of his pieces where ( and as an experienced journalist he should have known this ) naive in there attempts to shock / inform / get a response from people
Attacking Jewish women ( people) working in the BBC in 2017 , I think was the straw that broke the camels back
Although his statements on the holocaust saying stop giving aid to Africa or asking single parent families , are they happy raising bastards , are only a few topics he raised that could have raised offense , means he is finished now as a journalist as no one will hire him .
And yes his defense of those Irish men and women who fought in the wars are to be commended , and rightly so

Hes said sensible things and daft things. This book is very much the former, IMHO.

 

[Bannerman]

Being Anglo-Irish I took a dislike to Kevin Myarse a long time ago, but the book sounds interesting and I may give it a read.

On my fathers Sheffield side of the family his first cousin was a member of the 12th Battalion ( City of Sheffield ) York & Lancs, he died on the first day of the Somme offensive in 1916 together with hundreds of his Sheffield Pals and is buried in Luke Copse cemetary at Serre in Picardy, he was 19 years old.

I visited his grave a few years ago, a sobering experience, the whole area is one enormous reminder of mans inhumanity to man and plain stupidity. I respect the courage of those who served but have no respect for those who brought the senseless slaughter about.

On the way back from Serre I stopped off to have a look at the beach at Dunkirk where my father spent an ' Interesting ' five days in early June 1940.

Thankfully I was born into a far luckier generation and haven't had cause to go to war with people who have caused me no personal harm but whos government has fallen out with mine.

 

[SirNibletsO'Korne]

The Somme:The first 24 hours with Tony Robinson can be bought on Amazon(or probably still available on Ch4 catch up) .All about the Sheffield Pals, and has Tony sat on the South Stand at BDTBL as they practised drill instruction there...Well worth a watch.

 

[super_pig]

slight aside .. true story
french lass joined my software team, brain the size of the known universe ( seriously cute as well but i digress)
me: where you from?
her: have you heard of the river somme?
me: (incredulous) heard of the river somme? are you fucking mad? half of my city are buried there!
she genuinely had no idea.. they were encouraged not to mess around in the graveyards.. all they were taught at school was Verdun

 

[Bannerman]

slight aside .. true story
french lass joined my software team, brain the size of the known universe ( seriously cute as well but i digress)
me: where you from?
her: have you heard of the river somme?
me: (incredulous) heard of the river somme? are you fucking mad? half of my city are buried there!
she genuinely had no idea.. they were encouraged not to mess around in the graveyards.. all they were taught at school was Verdun

I had a somewhat different expereince on my visit to Dunkirk which I referred to above.

After visiting the beach two friends and I went for lunch in the town centre. One of my mates used to have a place in the south of France and speaks a little French. As a result we let him deal with any communications. When he went to settle the bill he told the waitress why we were there.

She would have been late twenties early thirties at the most, and also seriously cute. After talking to my mate she came across the restaurant
and in reasonable English asked me if it was my father who had been evacuated from the beach. When I said it was she shook my hand and then embraced me and kissed me on both cheeks.

I thought it was a lovely gesture, although of course it may just have been an excuse to embrace me, as you can tell from my picture I'm pretty irresistable to the ladies!

 

[super_pig]

I had a somewhat different expereince on my visit to Dunkirk which I referred to above.

After visiting the beach two friends and I went for lunch in the town centre. One of my mates used to have a place in the south of France and speaks a little French. As a result we let him deal with any communications. When he went to settle the bill he told the waitress why we were there.

She would have been late twenties early thirties at the most, and also seriously cute. After talking to my mate she came across the restaurant
and in reasonable English asked me if it was my father who had been evacuated from the beach. When I said it was she shook my hand and then embraced me and kissed me on both cheeks.

I thought it was a lovely gesture, although of course it may just have been an excuse to embrace me, as you can tell from my picture I'm pretty irresistable to the ladies!

she got some serious grief off my french mate to be fair.. but then he’s a bit of an anglophile.. he thinks the brits are the dogs bollocks but he’s also from profecture Nord like your lady friend

 

[Kenilworth]

I had a somewhat different expereince on my visit to Dunkirk which I referred to above.

After visiting the beach two friends and I went for lunch in the town centre. One of my mates used to have a place in the south of France and speaks a little French. As a result we let him deal with any communications. When he went to settle the bill he told the waitress why we were there.

She would have been late twenties early thirties at the most, and also seriously cute. After talking to my mate she came across the restaurant
and in reasonable English asked me if it was my father who had been evacuated from the beach. When I said it was she shook my hand and then embraced me and kissed me on both cheeks.

I thought it was a lovely gesture, although of course it may just have been an excuse to embrace me, as you can tell from my picture I'm pretty irresistable to the ladies!

Maybe she was angling for a nice tip?

 

[Kenilworth]

The Somme:The first 24 hours with Tony Robinson can be bought on Amazon(or probably still available on Ch4 catch up) .All about the Sheffield Pals, and has Tony sat on the South Stand at BDTBL as they practised drill instruction there...Well worth a watch.

Or watch on YouTube here


As I am doing now

 

[Bannerman]

Maybe she was angling for a nice tip?

The bill and tip had already been paid.

No, it was definitely either a genuine show of respect for the war effort or once again my fatal charm had worked its magic!

 

[Paisley Blade]

The Somme:The first 24 hours with Tony Robinson can be bought on Amazon(or probably still available on Ch4 catch up) .All about the Sheffield Pals, and has Tony sat on the South Stand at BDTBL as they practised drill instruction there...Well worth a watch.

Just watched it , couldn't find it on C4 catch up but it's readily available on Youtube.

I was already au fait with the history , but had never seen anything like this detail.

It's a powerful , compelling and utterly moving watch. Thanks very much for the tip sir.

 

[Kenilworth]

Just watched it , couldn't find it on C4 catch up but it's readily available on Youtube.

I was already au fait with the history , but had never seen anything like this detail.

It's a powerful , compelling and utterly moving watch. Thanks very much for the tip sir.

Just watched it too.
Good piece and tragic story.
Didn't know about Frank Meakin's diary.
Makes me want to read the Meakin Diaries, now.

Also, can't help but ask the question ...

Blade or Pig?

Robinson mentioned he'd been to Bramall Lane several times as an away supporter. He's a Bristol City fan.

 

[Paisley Blade]

Just watched it too.
Good piece and tragic story.
Didn't know about Frank Meakin's diary.
Makes me want to read the Meakin Diaries, now.

Also, can't help but ask the question ...

Blade or Pig?

Robinson mentioned he'd been to Bramall Lane several times as an away supporter. He's a Bristol City fan.

I'll defo look out a copy of his diary if I find out he's a Blade .......

 

[SirNibletsO'Korne]

Just watched it , couldn't find it on C4 catch up but it's readily available on Youtube.

I was already au fait with the history , but had never seen anything like this detail.

It's a powerful , compelling and utterly moving watch. Thanks very much for the tip sir.

You're welcome fella. WW1 seems to be something Tony Robinson takes a lot of care over so the quality of the doc is excellent, but its the awful inevitably of how you know its going to end that makes it so poignant...Someones mentioned the book A Covenant With Death on here already(which is a superb read by the way) but the final line of the book sums it all up
"Two years in the making, ten minutes in the destroying. That was our history"