As a @CWGC intern, the Victoria Cross featured significantly in stories I told that were equal parts heroic and moving. Explore the history of the VC today at 3pm w world-leading expert Michael Naxton for free online with the Chelsea History Festival
https://t.co/CYbrijzrB8
In the heart of Sydney surrounded by skyscrapers sits the #Anzac Memorial, completed in 1934. Aus. suffered a higher toll proportionately than any other British Empire country in WW1. Didn’t think I would see soil from Ypres & Passchendaele here on the other side of the world.
Thinking about #AnzacDay. Being in Australia for it was very special. This is the Australian National War Memorial in Canberra I visited recently. It opened in 1941 & is one of the world’s greatest national monuments. It is incredibly informative and a very sobering place.
The Menin Gate lions guarded Ypres for nearly 100 yrs until 1915 when they were lost in the shelling. The Allied troops would touch them for luck as they went past. They were gifted to Aus in 1936 and after 4 months living in their old city I finally met them in Canberra #CWGC
Please do have a listen to @BeverleyPalin playing #SilentNight on the century old ‘Reg’ - perhaps the last #WW1 Trench Organ, named after #Sheffield Pal Reg Glenn who played one himself in the Great War. ‘Reg’ has a magic sound that transports us back somehow...
Tyne Cot Cemetery in the early 1980s. Quiet and empty of visitors, but as ever a great credit to the work of @CWGC. Even here, you hardly saw a fellow traveller then; the Great War was forgotten. It must never happen again. #WW1Legacy
Saying goodbye to Tyne Cot after 4 months of bringing the stories of the FWW fallen alive. Incredibly thankful to @CWGC for the opportunity & so grateful to have played even a small part in the Centenary remembrance. An unforgettable experience.
The second wave of @CWGC Interns for 2018 have now worked their last shifts at Tyne Cot Cemetery. Those based in Ieper have produced a short video in order to say goodbye. #CWGCinterns#WeAreCWGC
“This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession [...] It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war.”
Incredibly powerful to read All Quiet surrounded by @CWGC ‘s fallen men
Good to have @BatesLord and Lady Bates plus my Defence attaché @ukdefbenelux for the #Armistice100 Last Post under the Menin Gate tonight.
And to meet some of @CWGC interns too.
What an honour to be part of last night’s ceremony @CWGC ‘s Menin Gate. Meeting the Belgian Prime Minister and seeing the Belgian King and Queen attend the Last Post was a real testament to how important the daily commemoration of the fallen continues to be. #CWGCinterns
Come and say hello to our colleagues at the @CWGC Information Centre in #Ypres. You can find us in the shadows of the Ypres (#MeninGate) Memorial. #CWGCInterns
Menin Gate. 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Here marks the end of the Centenary of the First World War, but we will not forget.
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”
#Remembrance#WorldWar1
Really great to meet you @chaniafox & the other @CWGC Interns today: you’re all such a credit to what you do & fabulous ambassadors for the Great War.