Plans To Mark 100 Years Since The Beginning Of The First World War In 2014 Announced

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-to-mark-100-years-since-the-beginning-of-the-first-world-war-in-2014-announced

I am hoping to see substantial Naval involvement in the centenary - I'm not sure that the general public are fully aware of the extent of the Service's involvement in the Great War; I know for certain that the existence of the Naval graves at cemeteries like Tyne Cot comes as a shock to many.

I see that Admiral the Lord Boyce KG GCB OBE DL sits on the Advisory Panel to the Centenary, so he will be spearheading the Senior Service's participation, one would imagine.

A short biography of Admiral the Lord Boyce features on the Submariners' Association website under "Patron":

Submariners Association

 

I can understand marking the end of the war but not the beginning!

 

Finknottle

I gather that events are planned for a four year period, so there will be something in 2018, one would imagine.

There are special events for points such as the Centenary of the Somme, for instance.

 

The main RN focal points will be Jutland and Gallipoli - although the planning's at the early stages.

Difficult war to deal with from the RN's viewpoint. It gave it the greatest victory in its history (Der Tag) and yet I see the seeds of today's 'sea blindness' sown in WW1. All the pre-war hype led to the public expecting a second Trafalgar. And it didn't get one.

 

So we might have to wait till 2016 then Ed!!! For the Jutland celebration , for my old oppo RIP round the corner at Howbeck Lodge, will nip round and tidy up the two Lions :grin::judge:

 

It is worth revisiting how WW1 started if only to highlight the folly of getting mixed up in other peoples wars.

 

IMO the whole shebang looks like a misanthropic attempt by HMG to distract the plebs from just how far up shit-creek we are, we will hoist up the bunting and have a gay old time for the next 4 years, bah humbug.

 

Will be funny to see how the Crabs shoulder barge their way into this one?

 

What.With fine fellows like this.:grin:

 

He became a Cnut for the last 8 months of it!!!

 

RND feature heavily at Gallipoli... so yes. We've done a lot in NN over the past decade on the RND - Arras, Somme, Passchendaele, German spring offensive.

Is the surrender of the High Seas Fleet a victory? Yes it is. The surrender of the entire German Fleet, the second largest in the world - can't think of anything comparable in naval or wider military history.

"The Navy has won a victory even more complete than Trafalgar, but less spectacular, and because of this lack of display, one feels that the unthinking do not fully realise what the nation - indeed the whole world, owes to the British Navy."
- First Sea Lord Wester Wemyss, Nov 12, 1918.

 

It was a war that affected almost every family in the country(s).Great uncle on my mothers side fought in the Australian Imperial Force in Europe. Badly wounded and succumbed to those wounds in the early 20s. Great uncle on my Fathers side lost with all hands on HMS Viknor,1915.

 

That's the thing - it only takes a bit of digging and pretty well everyone in the country has got a direct, tangible connection to the war, so it ought to be relatively easy to get people engaged. From my own family, representative of every other family in the country, my Great Grandfather was wounded in the knee at Passchendaele in 1917 with the Green Howards, I've got a Great Uncle buried in Belgium after getting machine gunned in 1915, another buried in Baghdad who was shot by a sniper when the siege was lifted in 1917, another that came through without a scratch in the RA, and yet another who won a medal in 1917 for jumping off his minesweeper and rescuing a drowning German.

And then all their sons went off 20 years later and did it again in the desert, Cassino, etc. Hard luck if you born in the early 20th century one way or another.

Everyone's got stories if they look hard enough.

 

That must have been very hard for the generation that fought in WW1. To see their children go off to do it again, and to have an idea what they were in for.

 

I can't see anything to commemorate the start of WW1 other than to show the horrendous loss of life on both sides of the conflict! As others have said ...everyone was touched in some way by WW1 ... Mrs MG got give her Great Uncles medals last year ... awarded posthumously as he was killed on the first day of Passchendaele and has no known grave ... complete with ribbons still in the packet they were sent in the post to his widow and remain unhung!

 

No doubt it will be an opportunity for the Brit goons to come out from under their stones and vent anti German feelings.

 

I thought the problem was the Brit goons had too many pro-German feelings ???

 

New EU law next year to ban any mention of WW1

 

The influenza epidemic of 1918-19 killed more people than WW1
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918