Remembering the Great War

A catalogue of recent multi-media coverage of the First World War

[magsprof]

Great War Poetry

A Treasury of War Poetry: http://beck.library.emory.edu/greatwar/poetry/clarke/

War Poetry Interactive: http://www.writers.warpoetry.co.uk/readers/

Great War, 1914-1918 (Postcards&Poems): http://beck.library.emory.edu/greatwar/

Poetry Foundation: Poetry of World War I: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/article/248460

War Poetry Blog: http://war-poets.blogspot.com

"Twelve Great First World War Poems."  Nov. 2014. http://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/59798/twelve-great-first-world-war-poems

[magsprof]

“We are the dead.”

‘In Flanders Fields’: Canada’s national poem turns 100 A new sculpture in Ottawa celebrates the ‘beauty and power’ of John McCrae’s ‘In Flanders Fields’, 100 years old on May 3

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/in-flanders-fields-canadas-national-poem-turns-100/

[today-in-wwi]

April 29 1915, Ypres–The 1st Canadian Division had barely escaped the worst of the opening gas attack at Ypres on April 22, but had seen some of the worst fighting since. Their position was exposed, leaving them in danger of being cut off. Canadian counterattacks on the 23rd had demoralized...

[iwm-first-world-war-centena-blog]

#EventOfTheDay – ‘A Land Fit For Heroes changing exhibition tour’ at the People’s History Museum, Manchester on 28 November.

Search for First World War events happening near you in our Centenary Events Calendar: http://www.1914.org/events-calendar/

[error888]

vintage everyday: 15 Animals That Served in the First World War

[greatwar-1914]

April 30th, 1915 - German Governments Places Advertisements - Civilians Travelling on British vessels do so at their own risk.

Warning placed by the German government in American and English newspapers against travelling aboard the Lusitania.

An advertisement placed by the Imperial German government appeared in over 50 American and British newspapers on April the 30th, 1915.  It was placed right under another ad for the RMS Lusitania’s 202nd trans-Atlantic voyage, from New York to Liverpool.  

NOTICE! TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the waters adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travellers sailing in the war zone on the ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk. IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY

Despite the worrying sign, the Lusitania’s voyage remained planned to go ahead on the next day.

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[greatwar-1914]

Praying Muslim troops in the Indian Army.

[today-in-wwi]

Film Footage of the Lusitania on May 1, 1915:

The following notice was published in various New York newspapers on the same day the RMS Lusitania departed for Southampton:

NOTICE!

Travelers intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between...

[greatwar-1914]

A German trench in Russian Poland, c. 1915.

Image Source: The Guardian

[greatwar-1914]

Soldiers in a trench near Souain, in the Marne river valley.

Image Source: La Bibliothèque Nationale Français (BNF)

[greatwar-1914]

May 1st, 1915 - Ypres; British Begin Withdrawal to a New Defensive Line

Pictured - How the Northumberland Fusiliers met an attack on their first-line trenches at Ypres.

As the Second Battle of Ypres continued into its second week, the Germans continued to make gains in a battle made even more deadly by the copious use of poison gas.  The German attacks had pushed closer and closer to the city of Ypres itself, forcing back the Allied troops in the salient.  A critical focal point of the engagement took place around the hamlet of St. Julien, where soldiers from the 1st Canadian Division held an increasingly-tenuous position.  In deference to French requests, the British and Canadians made counter-attacks to try and retake conquered territory, but by the beginning of May a number of officers had come to the conclusion that a strategic withdrawal might be necessary to recover from the impetus of the German attack.

The Second Battle of Ypres featured a notable rhythm to its flow - German attacks began with clouds of poison gas and a barrage of shells.  The infantry moved behind following a rigourous timetable and occupied the Allied positions, which they refortified to defend against the inevitable counterattack.  If they kept their objective, the advance continued towards the next line.  The Canadians proved to be somewhat ill-equipped and inexperienced, lacking enough machine guns, and by May 3rd when they withdrew they had incurred  5,975 casulties.  However they also demonstrated an unconquerable fighting spirit that impressed their allies and the rest of the world.

General Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of the British Second Army, first suggested a withdrawal of two and a half miles back towards Ypres.  BEF commander Sir John French, who despised Smith-Dorrien after the events of that August, responded by sending Smith-Dorrien back to England, effectivly sacking him.  His replacement, General Herbert Plumer, immediately suggested the same thing. The planned withdrawal took place between the first and the third of May.

Source

[today-in-wwi]

Russian prisoners taken at Gorlice-Tarnów.

May 2 1915, Gorlice–Last month, Falkenhayn had agreed to a major offensive in the East, in order to provide much-needed support to the beleaguered Austrians. Although an attack north of Gorlice, on a thirty-mile stretch between the Carpathians...

[alleyjaycat24-deactivated201907]

Vintage Kodak ad

[greatwar-1914]

May 3rd, 1915 - Canadian John McCrae Writes Poem In Flanders Fields

Pictured - Surgeon, soldier, and poet, John McCrae’s most famous work is In Flanders Fields.

Depressed and disillusioned by the death of a close friend, Canadian surgeon Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae penned his famous poem In Flanders Fields on this day one hundred years ago.  McCrae had spent the time since the beginning of the Second Battle of Ypres laboring in a tiny bunker in a shallow trench, trying to save grievously wounded patients.  He described it as a nightmare.  While leading the memorial service for a friend killed in action, he took inspiration from the poppies he noticed blooming around the graves.  The poem that followed remains the most enduring in the English tradition - though its romanticism and its final verse show that the combatants were far from the cynical bitterness as later in the war.  Punch magazine was first to print the poem.  McCrae died of pneumonia in 1918.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Source

[greatwarincolour]

On this day in history, Lt-Col John McCrae pens his famous poem, “In Flanders Fields”.  Original image source: Guelph Museums

[greatwar-1914]

British recruiting poster issued in May 1915.

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[greatwar-1914]

A soap advertisement celebrates the hygiene of the British soldier.