Thursday 12 November 2009

Les soldats de la grande guerre au cimetière des Gonards II

Yesterday I showed you the French World War I tombs. There are also a great many British soldiers whose tombs stand in rows at Gonards cemetary. Here's to Captain R.E. Tanner, Lieutenants G.H. Hewitt, C. Dunlop, Lieutenant Colonel G. de W. Verner, Privates O. F. A. Ebdon and G.T Fox, randomly chosen as English, Welsh, Scots and Irish men who fought and died on French soil during the great war.
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S'il y a au cimetière des Gonards les tombes de soldats français que je vous montrais hier, il y a aussi un canton de soldats britanniques. Hommage à vous, Capitaine R.E. Tanner, Lieutenants G.H. Hewitt et C. Dunlop, Lieutenant-Colonel G. de W. Verner, Privés O.F.A Ebdon et G.T. Fox, choisis au hasard pour représenter les hommes anglais, gallois, irlandais et écossais qui se battirent et moururent en France pendant la grande guerre.

20 comments:

Gunn said...

It must have been quite special to take these photographs.
Nice details and colors.

BaysideLife said...

Today is a holiday here--Veteran's Day. It's a day when we remember and give thanks to all who have served in the military in war and in peacetime. A very timely series of photos. They are lovely.

Anonymous said...

We can all learn from the lessons of the past where such events in life can be fully understood and no longer have to be repeated. When we see that we are all connected, then there can be no sides taken.

tapirgal said...

You are on a hot streak! Look at the lovely combination of the red-red leaves on the ground and the orange-and-red on the trees with the light coming through. Of course, the composition and general contrast are very nice, and the subject matter makes us think. This is quite a photo.

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

Beautiful shot, great composition.

Bob Crowe said...

The top picture is lovely. It has a meditative quality. That was to be the war to end all wars, wasn't it? The sentiment seems so naive now.

Lowell said...

An excellent shot, Ciel...well composed and the lighting is perfect. Those red leaves almost look like blood on the ground, which is rather symbolic I suppose.

Leif Hagen said...

Especially the top photo with the red Autumn leaves is AMAZING! Awesome! A great snap for Veterans Day! We honored two WWII veterans in our weekly Eagan Rotary lunch meeting today.

akarui said...

La photo du haut avec les belle couleurs d'automne et l'alignement des croix est tres belle. Un bel hommage.

Kate said...

It has been interesting to me to see how other countries celebrate Veterans Day through the bloggers' post. Thanks for yours.

VP said...

Wonderful and interesting post with a great opening image. The details of the stones are impressive and moving, considering the average age of the fallen.

Small City Scenes said...

We salute them all. Excellent post and pics.
Thanks for reminding us all. MB

cieldequimper said...

@ Bob: yes it does. To think they went off "la fleur au fusil", i.e. "with a flower on the gun", believing that all would be over within a few months, is terrifying.

@ Jacob: yes, blood. Pools of it.

@VP: so, so young...

@ Natural Moments: but do we really? At least in Europe we seem to have settled a few differences, though the Balkans could explode again. I am so thankful that at long last my two countries, France and Germany, are friends and not enemies anymore. Let it last throughout the coming centuries.

Halcyon said...

Ta première photo avec les feuilles rouges est très jolie. Heureusement que tout cela est derrière nous.

Cezar and Léia said...

Beautiful words and picture dear Ciel!
Léia

Tammie Lee said...

Besides the very sad fact that this photo is about men who died in war, your photo is award winning.

Unknown said...

It's wonderful that someone is still taking such good car of these graves.

Owen said...

Ahhh, des photos comme je les aime... la paix qu'il y a dans des endroits comme ceux-ci... et c'est sympa de prendre des noms dans le tas pour les mettre en valeur... tant de noms comme ceux-là gravés sur des pierres ou des croix. Et puis tous ceux sans nom... l'autre jour à Verdun j'ai rendu visite à l'ossuaire de Douaumont... où se repose les restes de 130000 hommes non-identifiés. Froid dans le dos...

Dina said...

Strange they didn't write the men's first names.
It gives me the chills to read their tender ages.

cieldequimper said...

@ Owen : merci. C'est terrifiant. Je ne me suis jamais arrêtée dans les environs de Verdun, pourtant Dieu sait que j'y suis passée souvent sur la A4 pour aller voir mes grand-parents de l'autre côté de cette maudite frontière. Mais ironie du sort, j'ai toujours trouvé que la campagne était belle et paisible dans ce coin...