New guy, Bristol based

[andy999]

a warm welcome Andy to the forum enjoy the stay and i am sure you will get a lot of help on here from the guys
Dave

Hi Dave
Thanks for the welcome. Will be in touch.
Andy

[wibblywobbly]

Been up through the WW1 battlefields, and done the Normandy bit a few times. The most impressive place I have ever visited was the underground tunnels used to plant tons of explosives under the German lines, they are on a par with the Pyramids and I have no idea how those Antipodeans managed such a feat.

If you can make it Sunday we will pleased to see you, its all very informal.

[andy999]

Been up through the WW1 battlefields, and done the Normandy bit a few times. The most impressive place I have ever visited was the underground tunnels used to plant tons of explosives under the German lines, they are on a par with the Pyramids and I have no idea how those Antipodeans managed such a feat.

If you can make it Sunday we will pleased to see you, its all very informal.

Visited Vimy Ridge many times. Years ago you could walk for miles in them. Unfortunately they have closed many of the tunnels due to bloody Health and Safety. Thought the unexploded shell poking through the roof of one of the tunnels gave some sort of ambiance to the place!!!
Hope to meet you tomorrow if I can make it.
Andy

[43rdRecceReg]

Welcome, Andy
Like you, I have an abiding interest in WW1, and took my kids (now in their forties 'tempus' really does 'fugit') to Verdun, Ypres (Passchendaele), Arras, and the Somme (Beaumont Hamel area), long before these sobering battlefields became 'holiday' or 'outing' destinations. Without doubt, you'll find many people here who share your interests, and you'll also experience the growing comradeship that the Forum has created. Old soldiers never die...as the saying goes; but they certainly posy on here
Feel free to post pics, and anecdotes. Advice you'll find aplenty
Roy.

Hi Roy
Thanks for your welcome.
Like you I stay away from all the tourist hot spots on the Somme and up at Ypres. One of my favourite haunts is in Shrewbury Forest just off the Menin Road. Private wood but its the only place you can still see original duckboards, German pill boxes, untouched for many years. Got to watch out for the dud 18 pounder shells that protrude from the ground still at an angle of their trajectory!!!
Old Soldiers Never Die, Frank Richards, one of my favourite accounts of the war.
Keep in touch.
Andy

I took quite a few pics of the most infamous sites on the Western Front. But this was during the pre-digital age of photography (1980s), of course, and I've yet to scan most of them onto my Mac. Here's one of the battered entrance to Fort Douamont at Verdun. They had an early type of 3d
display of the Trenches inside, but I've no idea of what awaits the visitor these days. You could even ride on the mini troop trains connecting the defences and redoubts.. It's a must see experience...

Verdun- Fort Douamont entrance.

[HERMAN BIX]

I was there in '09 and there was no ride available !

We were also gifted the opportunity to attend the 100th Centenary commemoration at Gallipoli in '15.
A truely emotional experience of presence and significance.

We were hoping to travel back to the Western Front to attend the 100 years of the 3rd battle of Ypres as part of the New Zealand commemorations next year, but the timing will beat us I feel.
too much going on now that will have lasting impact on making it even if we luck into the lottery.