Remembrance Service at Haymarket (Pre-recorded service to be streamed)

[Forza Cuore]

Raging 

[Hesh]

On 15/10/2020 at 18:56, Saughton Jambo said:

That’s a shame but understandable. I’ll be going along regardless and will quietly observe my minutes silence and pay my respects as I always do. I’ll then follow this by a few beers in the guards club if it’s open. 
 

It’s one day in the calendar I always look forward to. My great grandfather (a Harrison) was a member of the leith battalion Royal Scots and went over the top at the Somme. He survived but shell shock robed him of a normal life when he returned. Lest we forget! 

in Dalmeny Street?

[hueyview]

It's just down from my house so will pop along...

[Ainsley Harriott]

On 21/10/2020 at 20:53, Nucky Thompson said:

We could just turn up and call it a Maroon lives matter protest, or say we are guarding the Haymarket monument   

Or indy ref 2 parade or whatever it's called. One of them is still going ahead in Dundee.

[davemclaren]

Just to confirm that I have the JKB wreath at home and I plan to lay/secure it at the Haymarket Memorial on Sunday at some point, though not at 11am. 
 

It’s always a poignant moment for me personally as my great uncle was killed in ww1 and is remembered on the Thiepval memorial. He was in the Royal Scots but not McCraes Battalion. 

[davemclaren]

If anyone wants to buy a virtual poppy. 
 

https://secure.artezglobal.com/registrant/DonationPage.aspx?eventid=44087

[Tams bird]

2 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Just to confirm that I have the JKB wreath at home and I plan to lay/secure it at the Haymarket Memorial on Sunday at some point, though not at 11am. 
 

It’s always a poignant moment for me personally as my great uncle was killed in ww1 and is remembered on the Thiepval memorial. He was in the Royal Scots but not McCraes Battalion. 

My Great Uncle was in the Royal Scots and named on Thiepval .I put a cross for him in the Garden of Remberence in Princes street every year.

[davemclaren]

12 minutes ago, Tams bird said:

My Great Uncle was in the Royal Scots and named on Thiepval .I put a cross for him in the Garden of Remberence in Princes street every year.

Nice gesture.  I visited Thiepval on the McCrae’s coach 12 years ago. I reckon I was the first, and so far only, family member to visit it. 

[SMJ_1874]

Patrick James Crossan  - Heart of Midlothian 1911-1925.

Patrick James Crossan, known as "Paddy"to the press but "Pat" to his friends, was born on 1893 in the shale mining village of Addiewell, Midlothian.
His footballing career began with Junior side Arniston Rangers. Paddy was an explosive talent, a quick, robust, industrious full-back and his displays brought him to the attention of the Hearts manager, John McCartney. Crossan signed for Hearts in 1911 and soon became a regular in the Hearts side. 
He was a handsome and charismatic character and was very popular with his team mates who took to calling him "the handsomest man in the world". Mischievously, Paddy did not dispute this and was happy to have that title bestowed on him. One of his playing colleagues informed a journalist "Pat can pass the ball, but he couldn't pass a mirror if he tried".
Life was good for the young man playing the game he loved but like so many others from that time, the outbreak of the Great War interrupted his footballing  career.
In November 1914, along with other members of the Hearts team, he volunteered to serve his country and joined the 16th Royal Scots - McCrae's Battalion. On completion of military training the regiment were sent to the Western Front.
On the morning of 1st July 1916 the Battle of the Somme got underway and the 16th Royal Scots went "over the top" at 7.30am. 
The Somme was intended to be a major breakthrough in the war, instead it became a byword for indiscriminate slaughter.
As they advanced over "no man's land" towards the enemy lines, the Germans opened up with deadly fire. 
Crossan was running forward when a shell exploded in front of him causing a massive hole. He went down in to the shell-hole and lay unconscious, covered with earth and debris. Paddy regained consciousness the following day and although badly concussed he  painstakingly crawled for three days towards the British lines before he was found and taken to a dressing station and treated and then returned to his unit.
Paddy's vision had been impaired as a result of the concussion, but it had not affected his memory as he recounted his remarkable journey back to his lines and the horror he had encountered while crawling from shell-hole to shell-hole: holes that were occupied by countless corpses and the remains of bodies. On learning the fate of his colleagues, Crossan knew that he was one lucky young man to be alive. Then it was back to the trenches.
A few weeks later a shell exploded near to Paddy Crossan, resulting in some pieces of shell becoming embedded in his left leg. A shard of shell casing also penetrated his left foot, almost taking off his toes. He was removed to to a field hospital where he lost consciousness. When he came round again, Paddy noticed that a label had been pinned to his uniform. The label contained the message "for amputation". The doctors had decreed that his left leg was coming off.
Then fate stepped in, in the unlikely shape of a German. A captured German soldier had been put to work in the hospital as an orderly but in reality he had been a surgeon in Germany before the war. The German informed the medical staff that amputation was not necessary as a simple operation would suffice and that he was prepared to carry it out. Remarkably, permission was granted and the kindly enemy surgeon carried out the operation successfully.
Paddy was transferred  to Stourbridge Hospital in the West Midlands to recover and it was from there that he wrote to his manager John McCartney. With typical self- belief, he confidently informed the manager that he would soon be kicking a ball again. It was Crossan at his best- you just couldn't keep him down.
After recovering from his injuries it was once more back to the fray and Paddy was sent to the Middle East with the 4th Royal Scots to take part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. After experiencing action at the Battle of Jerusalem in 1917, he returned to the Western Front for the final weeks of the war where tragically he was gassed by the Germans. 
Paddy was transported back to Edinburgh to receive further treatment in hospital. 
On 11th November 1918, the day that the guns eventually fell silent, Paddy received a visit from one of his friends who enquired as to his well being. Paddy pointed out the hospital window and said "see that hill ower there. I'll be running up and doon it in a couple of weeks and then I'll be back at Tynecastle playing for the Hearts". The hill he was referring to was Arthur's Seat.
On 11th January 1919 Paddy Crossan led the Hearts team onto the field at Tynecastle for a League match against Hibernian. One can only wonder as to his thoughts as the team's lined up. He had quite literally been to hell and back and here he was back on his old stamping ground again, something I'm certain that even Paddy could not have envisaged given his experiences.
He made a remarkable recovery from all the injuries he sustained and remained a first-choice defender for Hearts until the end of season 1924-25. He played for Leith Athletic for a short time before retiring from the game.
In 1926 Crossan married Alice Wattie, the sister of his former teammate Harry, who had been killed at the Somme on 1st July 1916.
He opened his famous Paddy's Bar in Rose Street, Edinburgh and liked nothing better than to have a "good blether" with the patrons who frequented it. Paddy had many tales to tell.
On 28th April 1933 Paddy Crossan passed away at Southfield Sanatorium, Liberton at the age of thirty-nine years, due in no small measure to his wartime injuries. 
On the day of his funeral, a huge crowd turned out at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Edinburgh, to pay their respects and say farewell to one of Heart of Midlothian's most wholehearted players and the "handsomest man in the world".

It was said that he liked a "small refreshment or two"; if ever a man deserved to partake of a wee drink, it was Patrick James Crossan.

[John Findlay]

2 hours ago, Saughton Jambo said:

Patrick James Crossan  - Heart of Midlothian 1911-1925.

Patrick James Crossan, known as "Paddy"to the press but "Pat" to his friends, was born on 1893 in the shale mining village of Addiewell, Midlothian.
His footballing career began with Junior side Arniston Rangers. Paddy was an explosive talent, a quick, robust, industrious full-back and his displays brought him to the attention of the Hearts manager, John McCartney. Crossan signed for Hearts in 1911 and soon became a regular in the Hearts side. 
He was a handsome and charismatic character and was very popular with his team mates who took to calling him "the handsomest man in the world". Mischievously, Paddy did not dispute this and was happy to have that title bestowed on him. One of his playing colleagues informed a journalist "Pat can pass the ball, but he couldn't pass a mirror if he tried".
Life was good for the young man playing the game he loved but like so many others from that time, the outbreak of the Great War interrupted his footballing  career.
In November 1914, along with other members of the Hearts team, he volunteered to serve his country and joined the 16th Royal Scots - McCrae's Battalion. On completion of military training the regiment were sent to the Western Front.
On the morning of 1st July 1916 the Battle of the Somme got underway and the 16th Royal Scots went "over the top" at 7.30am. 
The Somme was intended to be a major breakthrough in the war, instead it became a byword for indiscriminate slaughter.
As they advanced over "no man's land" towards the enemy lines, the Germans opened up with deadly fire. 
Crossan was running forward when a shell exploded in front of him causing a massive hole. He went down in to the shell-hole and lay unconscious, covered with earth and debris. Paddy regained consciousness the following day and although badly concussed he  painstakingly crawled for three days towards the British lines before he was found and taken to a dressing station and treated and then returned to his unit.
Paddy's vision had been impaired as a result of the concussion, but it had not affected his memory as he recounted his remarkable journey back to his lines and the horror he had encountered while crawling from shell-hole to shell-hole: holes that were occupied by countless corpses and the remains of bodies. On learning the fate of his colleagues, Crossan knew that he was one lucky young man to be alive. Then it was back to the trenches.
A few weeks later a shell exploded near to Paddy Crossan, resulting in some pieces of shell becoming embedded in his left leg. A shard of shell casing also penetrated his left foot, almost taking off his toes. He was removed to to a field hospital where he lost consciousness. When he came round again, Paddy noticed that a label had been pinned to his uniform. The label contained the message "for amputation". The doctors had decreed that his left leg was coming off.
Then fate stepped in, in the unlikely shape of a German. A captured German soldier had been put to work in the hospital as an orderly but in reality he had been a surgeon in Germany before the war. The German informed the medical staff that amputation was not necessary as a simple operation would suffice and that he was prepared to carry it out. Remarkably, permission was granted and the kindly enemy surgeon carried out the operation successfully.
Paddy was transferred  to Stourbridge Hospital in the West Midlands to recover and it was from there that he wrote to his manager John McCartney. With typical self- belief, he confidently informed the manager that he would soon be kicking a ball again. It was Crossan at his best- you just couldn't keep him down.
After recovering from his injuries it was once more back to the fray and Paddy was sent to the Middle East with the 4th Royal Scots to take part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. After experiencing action at the Battle of Jerusalem in 1917, he returned to the Western Front for the final weeks of the war where tragically he was gassed by the Germans. 
Paddy was transported back to Edinburgh to receive further treatment in hospital. 
On 11th November 1918, the day that the guns eventually fell silent, Paddy received a visit from one of his friends who enquired as to his well being. Paddy pointed out the hospital window and said "see that hill ower there. I'll be running up and doon it in a couple of weeks and then I'll be back at Tynecastle playing for the Hearts". The hill he was referring to was Arthur's Seat.
On 11th January 1919 Paddy Crossan led the Hearts team onto the field at Tynecastle for a League match against Hibernian. One can only wonder as to his thoughts as the team's lined up. He had quite literally been to hell and back and here he was back on his old stamping ground again, something I'm certain that even Paddy could not have envisaged given his experiences.
He made a remarkable recovery from all the injuries he sustained and remained a first-choice defender for Hearts until the end of season 1924-25. He played for Leith Athletic for a short time before retiring from the game.
In 1926 Crossan married Alice Wattie, the sister of his former teammate Harry, who had been killed at the Somme on 1st July 1916.
He opened his famous Paddy's Bar in Rose Street, Edinburgh and liked nothing better than to have a "good blether" with the patrons who frequented it. Paddy had many tales to tell.
On 28th April 1933 Paddy Crossan passed away at Southfield Sanatorium, Liberton at the age of thirty-nine years, due in no small measure to his wartime injuries. 
On the day of his funeral, a huge crowd turned out at Mount Vernon Cemetery, Edinburgh, to pay their respects and say farewell to one of Heart of Midlothian's most wholehearted players and the "handsomest man in the world".

It was said that he liked a "small refreshment or two"; if ever a man deserved to partake of a wee drink, it was Patrick James Crossan.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[SMJ_1874]

Pumpherston Rangers FC

Neil Moreland (6th player, top row from the left) was a Broxburn man, he worked in the shale industry during his teens, and he also played football for Pumpherston Rangers; he was a huge influence on the teams successful title runs.

In February 1914 he signed for Heart of Midlothian FC to replace Percy Dawson, who had been sold to Blackburn Rovers FC. Moreland played three league games that season and two competitive games in the North Eastern Cup, scoring two goals. 

Moreland was also a member of the Territorial battalion, the 8th Highland Light Infantry.

On the 4th August 1914  Britain entered what would be known as ‘The Great War’ and immediately on the 5th August 1914 Moreland and fellow team mate and army reservist Geordie Sinclair we’re called up.

At this time Heart of Midlothian FC, were the leaders of the Scottish League, they were also considered, by a number of independent observers, to be the finest football combination in Great Britain. 

Professional Football, of all things, became a target of an orchestrated campaign of abuse and intimidation. So, it was no surprise that the team from Hearts became the focus of an anti football programme led by ‘The League of the White Feathers’ who’s members would publicly shame any young man  seen out-of-doors in civilian attire.

Moreland and Sinclair were highlighted as ‘doing their duty’ while their team mates played football. 

At the same time Sir George McRae had been given permission to raise a battalion. 

The Board of Directors of Heart of Midlothian made a strong public appeal to their followers:

“Now then, young men, as you have followed the old club through adverse and pleasant times, through sunshine and rain, roll up in your hundreds for King and Country, for right and freedom.

Don’t let it be said that footballers are shirkers and cowards. As the club has bourne an honoured name on the football field, let it go down in history that it also won its spurs on the field of battle”

The statement had the desired effect. The players, staff and fans joined on masse from 2pm on the 25th November 1914.

A further 75 clubs also heard the call to arms, including Pumpherston Rangers - 19 members of the team enlisted. 

Neil Moreland returned from the front, but his true potential was knocked out by the war.

[SMJ_1874]

Neil Moreland Pumpherston Rangers, 6th player, top row from left 

[3fingersreid]

Festival of Remembrance

 

i watch this every year and it never fails to get to me . I really really wish there was no need for war but when you hear the stories of the sacrifices that men and women have made  it’s a very humbling watch and listening . 
Lest we forget 

[Tams bird]

On 06/11/2020 at 13:06, davemclaren said:

 

 

On 06/11/2020 at 16:17, davemclaren said:

Nice gesture.  I visited Thiepval on the McCrae’s coach 12 years ago. I reckon I was the first, and so far only, family member to visit it. 

My Great Uncle.. My niece  has been School took them as they won a competition writing about Battle of Jutland. Went there and round the battle fields...

[22games nro]

[portobellojambo1]

On 15/10/2020 at 18:56, Saughton Jambo said:

That’s a shame but understandable. I’ll be going along regardless and will quietly observe my minutes silence and pay my respects as I always do. I’ll then follow this by a few beers in the guards club if it’s open. 
 

It’s one day in the calendar I always look forward to. My great grandfather (a Harrison) was a member of the leith battalion Royal Scots and went over the top at the Somme. He survived but shell shock robed him of a normal life when he returned. Lest we forget! 

The Guards Club will be open for 3 hours today SJ, from 10:00 to 13:00, for the collection of wreaths. But as far as I'm aware the bar won't be open during that time, but for this latter part that is just my interpretation, you may wish to double check with someone else for confirmation. I'd imagine that like any other pub/club they are unable to sell alcohol under the present restrictions applying.

[SMJ_1874]

31 minutes ago, 22games nro said:

Wow, Only 28 at roll call and probably out of a battalion of roughly 600   The worst of it is, there’ll be more than just the Cameron Highlanders in the British army that were decimated in WW1. 
 

Lest we forget indeed and the sole reason I’m going down to haymarket to pay my respects regardless 🇬🇧🇱🇻🌺

[SMJ_1874]

23 minutes ago, portobellojambo1 said:

The Guards Club will be open for 3 hours today SJ, from 10:00 to 13:00, for the collection of wreaths. But as far as I'm aware the bar won't be open during that time, but for this latter part that is just my interpretation, you may wish to double check with someone else for confirmation. I'd imagine that like any other pub/club they are unable to sell alcohol under the present restrictions applying.

Thanks PJ but going to take the car as I need to drop the daughter off at the orium for her game with the hearts Girls at lunchtime today. 

[Franksluckypants]

Lest we Forget!

 

Missing the Ceremony and Royal Scots club today, but the remembrance and paying respect is the most important part.

[dubs]

The service was beautifully put together.

 

[heartandsoul]

Tears in my eyes. What a beautiful service. 

[Broxburn Jambo]

A very moving service and tribute, well done Andy and the team.

 

That's why we are a special club.

 

Not just to the Hearts boys and McCrae's Battalion 

 

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

[Don Dan]

3 hours ago, 22games nro said:

 

Very sobering looking at these two photos. 

[portobellojambo1]

1 hour ago, Franksluckypants said:

Lest we Forget!

 

Missing the Ceremony and Royal Scots club today, but the remembrance and paying respect is the most important part.

 

I wasn't sure how many would turn up at the Memorial at Haymarket today, especially after the heavens opened at just after 10:00 am and the rain came down in buckets.

 

But it ended up being a very respectable number who were there, more than I've seen at Haymarket some years.

[SMJ_1874]

48 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Thank you, SJ.

You’re welcome Jonno.

 

I missed the service on Hearts tv to pay respects at Haymarket. The minutes silence was very moving as the piper played the flower of the forest. An excellent turnout considering the restrictions that are in place 🇬🇧🇱🇻🇬🇧

[Don Dan]

Uplifting words from Steven and Andy. Thank you both.

[davemclaren]

On 06/11/2020 at 13:06, davemclaren said:

Just to confirm that I have the JKB wreath at home and I plan to lay/secure it at the Haymarket Memorial on Sunday at some point, though not at 11am. 
 

It’s always a poignant moment for me personally as my great uncle was killed in ww1 and is remembered on the Thiepval memorial. He was in the Royal Scots but not McCraes Battalion. 

 

[upgotheheads]

Introduction

Wilfred Owen’s “Disabled” tells the poignant story of an injured soldier who “threw away his knees” on the battlefield and is now hospitalised in his “wheeled chair”, listening to the distant “voices of play and pleasure” coming from the “park” where he was once “carried high” for scoring a goal in a football match. He is left “waiting for dark” when the nurses will lift him into bed so he can sleep.

The poem laments the innocence of the young boys who naively went off to fight for their country only to discover the true horror of war in the “shell-holes” of France.

Disabled

He sat in a wheeled chair, waiting for dark,
And shivered in his ghastly suit of grey,
Legless, sewn short at elbow. Through the park
Voices of boys rang saddening like a hymn,
Voices of play and pleasure after day,
Till gathering sleep had mothered them from him.

About this time Town used to swing so gay
When glow-lamps budded in the light blue trees,
And girls glanced lovelier as the air grew dim, –
In the old times, before he threw away his knees.
Now he will never feel again how slim
Girls’ waists are, or how warm their subtle hands.
All of them touch him like some queer disease.

There was an artist silly for his face,
For it was younger than his youth, last year.
Now, he is old; his back will never brace;
He’s lost his colour very far from here,
Poured it down shell-holes till the veins ran dry,
And half his lifetime lapsed in the hot race
And leap of purple spurted from his thigh.

One time he liked a blood- smear down his leg,
After the matches, carried shoulder-high.
It was after football, when he’d drunk a peg,
He thought he’d better join. – He wonders why.
Someone had said he’d look a god in kilts,
That’s why; and maybe, too, to please his Meg,
Aye, that was it, to please the giddy jilts
He asked to join. He didn’t have to beg;
Smiling they wrote his lie: aged nineteen years.
Germans he scarcely thought of; all their guilt,
And Austria’s, did not move him. And no fears
Of Fear came yet. He thought of jewelled hilts
For daggers in plaid socks; of smart salutes;
And care of arms; and leave; and pay arrears;
Esprit de corps; and hints for young recruits.
And soon, he was drafted out with drums and cheers.

Some cheered him home, but not as crowds cheer Goal.
Only a solemn man who brought him fruits
Thanked him; and then enquired about his soul.

Now, he will spend a few sick years in institutes,
And do what things the rules consider wise,
And take whatever pity they may dole.
Tonight he noticed how the women’s eyes
Passed from him to the strong men that were whole.
How cold and late it is! Why don’t they come
And put him into bed? Why don’t they come?

 

 

I always think of this poem by Wilfred Owen at this time of year. Owen was at Craiglockhart hospital suffering from shellshock, and taught for a while at Tynecastle school. He would have known about the Hearts team, and other teams players, who went to war. References to Meg, kilts, daggers and plaid socks link directly to Scotland, and teaching at Tynecastle he would have seen the brand new stand and probably seen  Hearts players training.

 

He was killed exactly one week before the armistice.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfred_Owen

 

 

[chrystaf]

4 hours ago, heartandsoul said:

Tears in my eyes. What a beautiful service. 

Indeed.  What an inspirational chaplin Andy is.

[One five]

11 hours ago, 22games nro said:

These poor soldiers that was sent over the top when the chance of survival was next to none so very sad 

LEST WE FORGET 

[Seymour M Hersh]

Couple of questions for those more in the know than myself.

 

When did he Unknown Soldier become the Unknown Warrior?

and

When did it become Remembrance Week? 

[Seymour M Hersh]

28 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

Couple of questions for those more in the know than myself.

 

When did he Unknown Soldier become the Unknown Warrior?

and

When did it become Remembrance Week? 

 

Okay just spotted the daily mail newspaper from 1920 covering the burial of the unknown warrior. So that's that answered it was the original name given to the individual. However, I remember it always being referred to as the unknown soldier. 

 

 

[davemclaren]

1 hour ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

Couple of questions for those more in the know than myself.

 

When did he Unknown Soldier become the Unknown Warrior?

and

When did it become Remembrance Week? 

Always been the unknown Warrior. After ww1 remembrance happened on 11/11 but after ww2 it moved to the Sunday before..I believe. 

[Seymour M Hersh]

3 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Always been the unknown Warrior. After ww1 remembrance happened on 11/11 but after ww2 it moved to the Sunday before..I believe. 

 

As noted above I found confirmation of that Dave but am I alone in remembering it being referred to as the unknown soldier?

[davemclaren]

6 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

As noted above I found confirmation of that Dave but am I alone in remembering it being referred to as the unknown soldier?

I’ve heard both used. I think they are interchangeable. 

[Seymour M Hersh]

Just now, davemclaren said:

I’ve heard both used. I think they are interchangeable. 

 

Must be. Until recently I don't recall warrior being used. Not that it matters at all of course. 

[frazman1874]

Saw this on Facebook.  Thing of beauty. 😍
 

[Ulysses]

On 11/11/2020 at 17:01, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

As noted above I found confirmation of that Dave but am I alone in remembering it being referred to as the unknown soldier?

 

Sorry for answering this months after it was asked, but you're not alone in that regard.  Even after visiting the tomb while at Westminster Abbey a couple of years ago, which refers to "a British warrior unknown by name or rank", I still think of the words "unknown soldier".  That's the term used in France and in the United States, and it was also the term my parents and grandmother used when I was a child.

[LondonHearts]

4 hours ago, frazman1874 said:

Saw this on Facebook. 
 

I'll be a dissenting voice here.

The images are fine but the words are inappropriate.

I find the juxtaposition of the ‘Blood doesn't show .....’ quote with the images of soldiers and the two monuments very crass.

On the first day of July 105 years ago, blood would very much have shown on a khaki uniform.
 

Also to use the definitive in describing them as ‘Edinburgh’s Finest’ is disrespectful to others who signed up for and died during the Great War.

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by LondonHearts

[Kiwidoug]

1 minute ago, LondonHearts said:

I'll be a dissenting voice here.

The images are fine but the words are inappropriate.

I find the juxtaposition of the ‘Blood doesn't show .....’ quote with the images of soldiers and the two monuments very crass.

On the first day of July 105 years ago, blood would very much have shown on a khaki uniform.

Also to use the definitive in describing them as ‘Edinburgh’s Finest’ is disrespectful to others who signed up for and died during the Great War.

 

 

I fully agree on both counts.  Not the end of the world but a shame that a bit more thought hadn't gone into the wording.

[frazman1874]

7 hours ago, LondonHearts said:

I'll be a dissenting voice here.

The images are fine but the words are inappropriate.

I find the juxtaposition of the ‘Blood doesn't show .....’ quote with the images of soldiers and the two monuments very crass.

On the first day of July 105 years ago, blood would very much have shown on a khaki uniform.
 

Also to use the definitive in describing them as ‘Edinburgh’s Finest’ is disrespectful to others who signed up for and died during the Great War.

 

 

Agree regarding the wording.  A bit more thought should have went in to it. Thought it was visually very poignant though.

[Seymour M Hersh]

7 hours ago, Ulysses said:

 

Sorry for answering this months after it was asked, but you're not alone in that regard.  Even after visiting the tomb while at Westminster Abbey a couple of years ago, which refers to "a British warrior unknown by name or rank", I still think of the words "unknown soldier".  That's the term used in France and in the United States, and it was also the term my parents and grandmother used when I was a child.

 

Had a double take there U when I saw what you were replying to. Glad to know it wasn't just me. Cheers.

[Seymour M Hersh]

7 hours ago, LondonHearts said:

I'll be a dissenting voice here.

The images are fine but the words are inappropriate.

I find the juxtaposition of the ‘Blood doesn't show .....’ quote with the images of soldiers and the two monuments very crass.

On the first day of July 105 years ago, blood would very much have shown on a khaki uniform.
 

Also to use the definitive in describing them as ‘Edinburgh’s Finest’ is disrespectful to others who signed up for and died during the Great War.

 

 

 

I have to agree. The workmanship is clearly excellent but the quote is out of context from it's original meaning and being used crassly here in my opinion. 

[jambos are go!]

Not for me in any way I am afraid. Garish . A simple maroon bench with a small badge  much more appropriate  in my opinion.