Comments - For This Son of Meath, the Somme Holds Particular Resonance - The Wild Geese2024-03-28T11:56:38Zhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=6442157%3ABlogPost%3A59073&xn_auth=noMy father's uncle died on Mou…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-16:6442157:Comment:624932013-11-16T21:22:03.816ZGerry Reganhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/ger_regan
<p>My father's uncle died on Mount Kemmel, Sept 4, 1918, serving with the American Expeditionary Force. He predicted the war would end soon in one of his last letters home. For him it ended a week or so after he wrote it! Strange how having and reading his written correspondence has forged a sense of connection for me, along with the clear love his family and friends had for this young man, so full of life at his death at 21.</p>
<p>My father's uncle died on Mount Kemmel, Sept 4, 1918, serving with the American Expeditionary Force. He predicted the war would end soon in one of his last letters home. For him it ended a week or so after he wrote it! Strange how having and reading his written correspondence has forged a sense of connection for me, along with the clear love his family and friends had for this young man, so full of life at his death at 21.</p> Lovely piece there John. I'm…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-11:6442157:Comment:618322013-11-11T14:13:23.513ZDJ Kellyhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DJKelly
<p>Lovely piece there John. I'm with you and David on this. Those of us who lost relatives in two world wars are not so naive as to believe the myth that the Germans would have stopped their invasion of Europe when they got to the Irish sea. I owe everything I am and everything I have to some very brave Irish men and women.</p>
<p>Lovely piece there John. I'm with you and David on this. Those of us who lost relatives in two world wars are not so naive as to believe the myth that the Germans would have stopped their invasion of Europe when they got to the Irish sea. I owe everything I am and everything I have to some very brave Irish men and women.</p> I want to echo John's sentime…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-10:6442157:Comment:615792013-11-10T14:41:14.950ZDavid Caldwellhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/DavidCaldwell
<p>I want to echo John's sentiments and send him my regards. We last met 38 years ago at a conference at Seville Lodge in Kilkenny but I still have a favourable impression of a warm hearted individual. With my wife and her aunt some years ago I travelled across Picardy towards the Somme and the Aisne for both our families had contributed to the fallen in the Great War. We had researched their lives and deaths, found where they were commemorated or buried and were now the first members of our…</p>
<p>I want to echo John's sentiments and send him my regards. We last met 38 years ago at a conference at Seville Lodge in Kilkenny but I still have a favourable impression of a warm hearted individual. With my wife and her aunt some years ago I travelled across Picardy towards the Somme and the Aisne for both our families had contributed to the fallen in the Great War. We had researched their lives and deaths, found where they were commemorated or buried and were now the first members of our families to visit where they died. My Great Uncle, James McMahon from Clara, Co. Offaly, is buried at Beaurevoir in the Ainse and died just weeks before the Armistice. I wasn’t expecting to feel a great deal of connection with somebody who died so many years before I was born but being there amongst the graves of so many young Irish soldiers who all died on the 8th October 1918 was surprisingly moving. While I understand Rónán's comment he is attempting to apply a simplistic narrative to what was in 1914 a more complex world and in doing so insults both the motivation and sacrifice of the Irish Soldiers who fought motivated by thoughts of a better world.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/towards-somme-personal-journey.html">http://daithaic.blogspot.co.uk/2007/11/towards-somme-personal-journey.html</a></p> How did an Irishman fighting…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-11-10:6442157:Comment:615742013-11-10T09:49:21.699ZRónán Gearóid Ó Domhnaillhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/RonanGearoidODomhnaill
<p>How did an Irishman fighting for Britain die for Europe? He died for the glory of the British Empire, an empire which wished to check the ambitions of Germany,lest it become as strong as Britain, but had no interest in the freedom of small nations. </p>
<p>How did an Irishman fighting for Britain die for Europe? He died for the glory of the British Empire, an empire which wished to check the ambitions of Germany,lest it become as strong as Britain, but had no interest in the freedom of small nations. </p>