A gift from the Deputy Mayor of Montauban. They have just excavated a new playground in the village behind the Salle Polyvalente and this, amongst a lot of obus, was dug up. #ww1 #Somme

Terrorist attack at a school in Arras. Very worrying for all of us.

Adresse aux Français. x.com/i/broadcasts/1…

Another warm day on the Somme battlefields. The views from the jumping off points of 9th KOYLI and 10th KOYLI on 1st July 1916 near Bécourt across No Man’s Land . Both Bns paid an exceptionally heavy price as part of 64th Bde. #Somme #WW1 #LestWeForget

The bridge to autumn.
Rivelin valley

About a week ago a tractor came off the Mametz to Montauban road just east of Dantzig Alley Cemetery at the junction with Bulgar Alley into a ditch and had to be dug out. This iron was dug out from the field - looks like hefty trench construction? #Somme #ww1 Zero Hour Z Day 1st July 1916

'Charging at dawn through the dew to be killed or to kill.
I thank the gods that the flowers are beautiful still'
--from 'The Rainbow' by Leslie Coulson, killed 8 Oct 1916 in #FWW . His poem and story here:
behindtheirlines.blogspot.com/2015/07/what-m… #WW1 #poetry

A moment at Serre amongst the Copses and those of the 31st Div that fell here. I recall the incredibly powerful first hand account of Reg Glenn on the Imperial War Museums archives. #lestweforget #Somme .

Just a personal view, I keep seeing the Ulster Covenant Historical Society leaving these at headstones across the Western Front. If you want people to know you’ve visited you can sign the Visitor’s Book rather than leaving these laminated things.

A visit to the grave of Pte Hortace Scoggins DCM of the 2nd Suffolks in Commonwealth War Graves Montauban, killed on 19 July 1916 as the Bn occupied the high ground on the Longueval Ridge. He was an Adjt's Orderly, killed by shellfire. Awarded the DCM in March 1916 he never lived to receive it.

New book from my friend and fellow ex Gurkha Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE - knowing his background and outlook it will doubtless be a thoughtful piece applicable to so many. All profits going to RBLI and The Gurkha Welfare Trust Good luck and Syabash Ash 🙏🏼

The total obliteration of the village of Fleury, #Verdun . The dates of these aerial photos are in the top left-hand corner #artillery #FWW #WW1

Bapaume Post Commonwealth War Graves this evening.
#Somme #WW1

Beautiful at Éclusier-Vaux today. Home of Marcelle Semmer - a well known WW1 resistance fighter who was awarded the Croix de Guerre and Legion D’Honneur for her work in the Turma Vengeance network. #Somme #ww1

If you’re out and about on the Somme battlefields this weekend - be careful. Lots of hunters around today - wear a luminous jacket ! Don’t want to be mistaken for a boar 🐗!

Hi LeShuttle - no sign of boarding for quite a while. What’s going on?

Just fantastic news to recognise these sites for what they are.

9.9.16 Verdun
107 years ago, always remember your day cant get worse than this 👇
'What carnage & often we cannot take away the wounded, they have to stay there for hours waiting for another shell that will finish them off or the end of the artillery barrage to retrieve them'

#nowandthen #beforeandafter
Bois d'Hauzy
March 1916 v 2022

Bois d'Hauzy was behind the Melzicourt frontline near St Thomas. In 1916 the wood was used for troop rest. Below are two 315e soldiers at rest in the valley lead down to the aisne river. See🧵for more pictures

Wednesday 6th September 2023 a rededication took place for Captain Frederick Arthur John Robertson BROOKE, Royal Army Medical Corps, Died 27 May 1918 Age 55. Now resting Commonwealth War Graves #LaVilleAuxBoisBritishCemetery , France.