R2OK!

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6812

"The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

Sir Edward Grey, Foreign Secretary, uttered these words on the eve of Britain officially entered the First World War. Exactly 100 years later we are inviting millions of individuals, households and companies to join together in a national moment of reflection.

I think this is an inspired tribute in honour of all those who lost their lives in The Great War

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/ww1-centenary/lights-out

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I am a big fan of Katie Him's work on Radio 4 and she has a new drama series starting on Radio 4 today ... I'll be tuning in.

Home Front

4th of August - Kitty Wilson

Epic new drama series set in Great War Britain on this day a hundred years ago. As Britain waits for Germany's response to their ultimatum, in Folkestone, Kitty Wilson has a deadline of her own.

Home Front is a ground-breaking new Radio Four radio drama - its biggest ever at around 600 episodes - set in Britain during the Great War, playing a central role in the BBC's comprehensive World War One offering.

An enthralling fiction, set against a backdrop of fact. Each episode is set a hundred years to the day before broadcast, and follows one character's day. Together they create a mosaic of experience from a wide cross-section of British society, and a playful treasure hunt, with at least one historical truth hidden in each story.

Season One is set in Folkestone, a fashionable Edwardian seaside resort that quickly became one of the hubs of the military machine, and close enough to France to hear the fighting. Future seasons will be set in Newcastle and Devon, telling the major stories of wartime Britain.
Marking major and minor events of the time, Home Front charts the strategies that ordinary people found for managing life in wartime, and how, together, they ensured that the Home Front didn't break down.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03thbcj

ruddlescat · Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Posts: 18010 Location: Near Chester

I heard the interview with the former Foreign Secretary's relative at lunchtime today and thought that it was one of the best features I've heard on the JV Show for a very long time - a shame that he wasn't around to conduct the interview himself - but nevertheless very informative

I'll be turning my lights out at 11pm tonight because all those who took part in that dreadful war deserve our utmost respect
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Are you ready for a Ruddles?

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6812

Colin · Joined: 26 Sep 2013 Posts: 916

I spent the evening scanning a load of my late grandfather's WW1 military service records and have almost pieced together his unit's movements between 1916 and 1918 on the Western Front. Thankfully he survived that ridiculous and un-necessary war (his words) - but only because he suffered the effects of mustard gas poisoning exactly one month before the armistice.

Despite having the means, as a student, to record his memories in the Somme I never actually got round to it. He died in 1980, so it's too late now.

I didn't switch lights out because I was engrossed in what I was doing and forgot the time, but it doesn't matter at all. I'll never forget anyway, so it's OK.

John W · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 3367 Location: Warwickshire, UK

We were not sure of the right timing for the candle, so we turned off lights and lit it at 10.50pm and then blew it out at 11.00pm - I think Mrs W wanted to watch Big Brother Rolling Eyes

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John W

childprufe · Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 212 Location: lincolnshire

Many comments on BBC TV and radio that we owe so much to those who gave(had taken) their lives. It strikes me that it won't be long before we shall be feeling the same guilt over WW2 veterans - our fathers/grandfathers - love them now - they have few dreams of their past - all nightmares, and their lives are blighted by meagre pensions while people who have paid nothing towards our country draw exorbitant benefits.
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Standing on Ray Moore's shoulders