Proud yet humbled.

My late husband was asked to read the exhortation at the Menin Gate and as he finished his friends, all serving officers, had tears pouring down their faces.
We visited the battlefields and memorials several times, taking out teenage boys with us on one trip. Very moving and humbling.
My great uncle George died aged 18 after just a few weeks on the front line. His body was never found and he listed on the Tyne Cot memorial. My grandpa, who was less than a year younger, never spoke of him. My great grandmother and another great uncle died in the flu pandemic in 1919. They had the last double horse drawn funeral ever held in our wee Scottish town. Another great uncle was blinded by gas and opened the war memorial in our local park. I struggle to hold back the tears on 11th, thinking of the sacrifice these young men made, remembering too the immense pride my husband had in serving his country. So sad that conflict continues around the world.

Bijou In my case it was my grandfather who was sent to Salonika, aiding I think the campaign in BUlgaria and my father who was called up in WW2 and eneded up in India.

I am often aware what a fortunate generation my generation and those that have followed have been, not to have been involved in any major conflict since 1945.

It was said that the 1914 war was the war to end war. How wrong. My father was in the Galipoli campaign against the Turks where few British survived but it is not often mentioned.
My husband went over in DDay plus 4 with the Guards armoured division . There was no changing out of wet uniforms. They got as far as Caen where they were held by the enemy for three weeks in those same clothes but being Guards had to shave in cold water. His Bren gun carrier was blown up but he survived. No counselling .those days. As soon as he recovered he was sent to Palestine where the enemy was both jew and Arab. against the Brits.
He survived but suffered with his nerves for the rest of his life.

For Katek, Yes, the Menin Gate is impressive. So too that ceremony there.

There are as you probably know cemeteries all round the Somme, (large and small) and a load more in Belgium, a massive one at Tyne Cot comes to mind. There's also a wonderful museum in Ypres.

Another massive memorial is by Lutyens, at THIEPVAL (Somme), with over 70K names for the missing with no known grave. It's visually stunning, but a strangely spooky atmosphere, seemed to be no bird song at all.

For GrandtanteJE65 -- contact the Commonwealth War Grave Commission. If anyone knows, they will.

Have you tried looking on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site? It is free for everyone and there is a Norman Lewis Mill mentioned. Good luck!

grandtanteJE65

Yes, and sadly not all are commemorated. I have not been able to find any mention of Normann Mill my paternal grandmother's younger brother. His name may be somewhere, but as I never thought to ask either his twin, my great-uncle Douglas or Grannie whether he fell on the Somme or not, I have no real hope of finding his name.

So if anyone has seen his name somewhere in France, please let me know by posting here.

a norman lewis mills born london lived in edinburgh
died mar 1917 flanders france.
and
if that is your relative I can give war memorial details.

katek that brought a tear to my eye. You are right to be proud.

Those who cant find any records should try either Ancestry or the actual forces records. My cousin found my father's father on their and the actual number of his memorial stone. I wasn't even aware that he had been killed in WW1 and died before my Dad was even born.

You'd think we'd learn wouldn't you Katek

The Menin Gate has engraved on it the name of my great uncle who was killed in May 1915 at Hill 60. He had been awarded the Disntiguished Conduct Medal, one of the highest gallantry awards, just below the Victoria Cross.

Four members of my family died in WW1, including my granfather, who died in January 1919, of Spanish flu. He was taken off the troop ship bringing him home and taken to hospital at Marseilles, where he died a few days later.

My other grandfather survived the conflict. He was a professional soldier and was called out of retirement to serve in WW2, together with his seven sons, who all, served in the forces and all survived.

grandtanteJE65

Yes, and sadly not all are commemorated. I have not been able to find any mention of Normann Mill my paternal grandmother's younger brother. His name may be somewhere, but as I never thought to ask either his twin, my great-uncle Douglas or Grannie whether he fell on the Somme or not, I have no real hope of finding his name.

So if anyone has seen his name somewhere in France, please let me know by posting here.

There's a Norman Lewis Mill on Commonwealth War Graves www.cwgc.org/

I started trying to find out about my great uncle and after going through various websites I found a photograph of him. It was stunning. He looked so like his brother, my Grandpa, it was immediately obvious that I'd found him. Uncle James staring back at me through the years He wasn't talked about in the family. Just wasn't done.
On the other side of the family I easily found out about my other great uncle. Someone had researched him and put up lots of fantastic info about him. He'd died on the Somme. He was in the machine gun corps aka 'the suicide squad'. He was an English teacher.

grandtante, can you provide any more information? I've found someone who might be him but need to be sure it's the right person. Do you have any idea when he was born, which regiment, or where he was living when he joined up?

grandtanteJE65

Yes, and sadly not all are commemorated. I have not been able to find any mention of Normann Mill my paternal grandmother's younger brother. His name may be somewhere, but as I never thought to ask either his twin, my great-uncle Douglas or Grannie whether he fell on the Somme or not, I have no real hope of finding his name.

So if anyone has seen his name somewhere in France, please let me know by posting here.

You could try this link grandtanteJE65, I know somebody who found her great, great uncle this way.
www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/

I not O

You should be proud. O would be too.

Yes, and sadly not all are commemorated. I have not been able to find any mention of Normann Mill my paternal grandmother's younger brother. His name may be somewhere, but as I never thought to ask either his twin, my great-uncle Douglas or Grannie whether he fell on the Somme or not, I have no real hope of finding his name.

So if anyone has seen his name somewhere in France, please let me know by posting here.

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

A. E. Houseman.

Many years ago I wrote those words in the Memorial Book at the War Graves Cemetery, Arnhem, Netherlands.
Sadly wars continue to claim the lives of the young and the old.

🥲

katek members of my family are commemorated on that memorial. So many, and so very young. Humbling indeed.