Battle of the Somme

[silversurfer1947]

I am watching the service this evening at Westminster Abbey and reflecting. I have visited a number of War Cemeteries, which had a profound effect on me, reducing me to tears on more than one occasion. On the other hand, along with other members here, I get great pleasure and enjoyment from modelling and operating my tanks. Somehow, I divorce myself from the fact that the tanks I model were designed for one main purpose, namely to kill people. There seems a strange dichotomy, and I am not really sure how I can reconcile the two scenarios.

[PainlessWolf]

SilverSurfer,
I know what you are talking about. I think that all of us who build these mechanical marvels wrestle with this point after a while. Myself, I celebrate the awesome machinery and do not forget to honor the men ( and women ) who served in them. By doing the best job I can and appreciating the source material and the Time that it hails from. Other folks do it other ways but that's mine. Good luck, Doc.
regards,
Painless

[jarndice]

Richard, I understand your dilemma .
My Grandfather Christopher left his three year old son, my Father, a Tinplate toy Dreadnaught before he left for France, ironically it was made in Germany by "Gebruder Bing", this now sits in my workroom,
Who knows perhaps that has been my inspiration to build the war machines that give us so much enjoyment ?
I have mentioned in the past that I come from a military family,
Grandfather Christopher died at the first battle of the Somme.
At the time of the battle the British army still had a very strong core of Professional soldiers, Christopher being one of them,
My father and I followed him into serving our country and the three of us knew as did the bulk of those men in July 1916 exactly what could be the final personal result, and that does nothing to ease the heartbreak for the families.
I told Painless of my success after years of searching how I finally found Grandfather Christopher in a beautiful graveyard just outside a village in Northern France,
I have been their a few times and still I think of not only him but those heroes with whom he served and who now lie beside him at Peace.
Shaun.

[DRC]

My father fought against the very tanks I model. I feel that by keeping the sense of how powerful they were and therefore how frightening it, must have been to face them day after day through the campaigns of Nth Africa and Italy, I honor not only his bravery but the bravery of all those young boys of all nationalities.
War is a painful memory but one that should be kept, not to celebrate but to honour the fallen.

Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk

[HERMAN BIX]

I have walked among the graves of the fallen at Thiepval, Pozieres, and countless other sites.
Staggers me to realise there are 3 million lost souls in the Somme area..................
As a person that has come from a far away nation in New Zealand, untouched by the direct effects of war, it as a profound impact to see the names & ages of the fallen from where they came, to where they lie today. So far away and so many lost sons.

I also take humble pride in visiting the sites of fallen foes while there, many do not. I feel that the mothers of the then enemy loved their sons no less, and deserve the respect commanded by the sacrifice of life in the service of their nation.

It is only history that decides the right or wrong side, they are not afforded that choice.................

"Lest We Forget"

[HERMAN BIX]

You may not have seen this.........................

Brothers In Arms................