The Great War Cemeteries Of The Western Front | The Great War Tour With Norm Christie | War Stories
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- One of the legacies of WW1's western front are the hundreds of war cemeteries that mark the old battlefields. As no remains could be repatriated these cemeteries are time capsules that allow us to understand the grief and sacrifice of that period. Norm explains how these incredible cemeteries came about and what each grave and each cemetery tells us about the First World War.
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There are 250,000 men who have no grave. There are 250,000 mothers with no sons to visit.
I think their mothers could be getting on a bit now mate.
I think the mothers of those soldiers are long dead
@@domnichols3892
Their great great great great great grand daughters with no graves to visit.
murraycatto1 Never mind the idiot replies. I understood what you meant as did 10 others.
There was a successful British sabotage bombing operation in the latter stages of the Great War involving tunneling and planting 1 million pounds of explosives under German positions and contemporary accounting of it says that 30,000 Germans were so much blown to smithereens that there must have been all but no physical traces of them to be found. Like, doing the retrieval of remains from 9 / 11 would have been easier. So they reckon. So the story goes.
My granddad was Rupert Powell. He was a soldier in the United States Army, attached to the AEF, arriving in 1917. He was gassed twice, sent to a field hospital and developed Mumps. This illness was very deadly in that time period, but he survived and returned to the USA, and traveled home to Itawamba County, Mississippi. He would never mention what took place until he was in his 80s, only then mentioning that it was the most terrible thing he had ever been through. He passed away in 1982 age 86
While stationed in Germany in 81-82 I visited my Great Uncles grave at the Meuse Argonne. Very moving.
My great uncle was with the illinois national guard infantry. Gassed and wounded by shell fire. His platoon of 66 men was basically wiped out. My grandmother showed me a tiny metal bible Bent from him squeezing it as he prayed while being shelled taking refuge behind a big tree stump. He came home but was badly affected by the horrors he saw in 1926 fell down a stairs hit his head and died All he did was drink trying to forget. My grandmother had his medals and bible she showed me with great sadness in her eyes in 1970. She was still mourning her brother.
It was called The Great War, everyone believed there would be no other in the future. But humans never learn...Bless them all, and their families too. ❤🙏
Wars are fought for economic and political reasons--period. ALL of them can be avoided.
@@robertwatson818 - You're right. They can and also should be avoided. But human greed and ambition make it impossible to happen. 🌷
I recently spent time in Flanders Fields, Northern France walking around dozens of war cemeteries, large and small, allied and German. The scheer scale of some cemeteries, the number of 'unknowns' are truly staggering as is the age of many combatants. The evening ceremony at the Menin Gate is always moving. I visited John McCrae's aid station which is, amazingly, still there. #wewillrememberthem
In memory of Malcolm Galbraith of the 44th Battalion who was KIA in the Arras sector onJune 3, 1917. Buried at La Chaudiere Cemetery. (not far from Vimy Ridge) He was twenty years old. + LEST WE FORGET +
While serving in Germany from 1984 to 1988 I traveled to several of the commonwealth grave site. In 2014 I returned again with a group of Air Cadets. Our youth need to remember the past to protect the future. Thank you Mr. Norm Christie.
I don’t think remembering the past does anything for protecting the future. The youth need to learn about the war i don’t think there gonna be remembering what they haven’t learned lol I’d say they remembered pretty well in 1939 and didn’t seem to matter
Outstanding and poignant presentation. What stupidity, how many Einstein,s, Pasteur,s, Fleming,s, Kipling,s, Hemingway,s were lost?
Superb documentary. in 2016 I visited all the graves of my family members who died on the Somme. The cemeteries were beautiful and moving but sad when you realised how many men died.
Fantastic storryteller, moving stories, and great respect from Belgium for the Canadian sacrife and... also in WW2 wen we where liberated by the Manitoba Dragoons in Ostend !
My great grand father served in WWII, and we're from Manitoba. I live in Flin Flon.
Certainly the best video I've seen about the fallen. You should be proud sir.
What an excellent video. Brought me to tears at a couple points.
So sad that nobody visits those cemeteries anymore. I’m hoping to visit those areas some day and I’d like to pay my respects. Such senseless death.
Nobody visits??? That may be the case in Canada but not in Britain...
@@winterwolf9797 - good to hear
@@thomasweatherford5125 if you do go, you will really enjoy it! Very interesting!
@@winterwolf9797 - thank you! My wife and I had plans to go to Europe in 2020 for our 29 year anniversary, but Covid had other plans and needless to say, we’ve not had a chance to go yet. I’m a proud military history nerd and I really want to see these battle fields and cemeteries. She’s not so much of a history but like me, but she understands how important it is for me to see these historic places.
@@winterwolf9797 - thank you! My wife and I had plans to go to Europe in 2020 for our 20 year anniversary, but Covid had other plans and needless to say, we’ve not had a chance to go yet. I’m a proud military history nerd and I really want to see these battle fields and cemeteries. She’s not so much of a history but like me, but she understands how important it is for me to see these historic places.
In addition to the Commonwealth, French, and British Cemeteries, there are 10 American Cemeteries in Belgium and France and one in Britain. The one in Britain is primarily for those Americans killed in the Battle of the Atlantic 1914-1918.
The death toll was not 1 million, the total number of casualties were. Depending on sources total German casualties were up to 650.000, The British 420.000 and France 195,000. There may be a slight difference in other sources, but the number of lives changed forever was huge. When combined with Verdun and the Brusilov Offensive one can see that 1916 was one of, if not the bloodiest years in history.
Appreciate your clear thoughts and information about the three main battles of 1916.
@@aureliusvictor4285 So the figures are pretty much similar. What is a help is that the different categories are broken down
My great uncle, Z/2166 Rifleman WILKINSON, George 3RD Battalion Rifle Brigade, died of wounds 25th Aug 1916, aged 27,
only son of John & Rose Wilkinson of Salford, ........He suffered major gunshot wound in 1915 which took almost one year
to the day to recover in the UK, he then returned to the front in April 1916 and was wounded again on the Somme on 22ND
Aug 1916 and died of his wounds on the 25TH Aug....
CORBIE COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION
Plot 2. Row B. Grave 81.
France
RIP Uncle George.
Lest we forget
God hold them all.
Bless them all
My great uncle is in the dirt in France kings royal rifles. Rip.
Really like and appreciate Norm's docos! I wish we had a NZ War Historian who would do similar work - we have a few good historians who have published books and other material - but never has our TVNZ put money into someone like Norm to tell OUR stories too. Kia Kaha, Norm (Stand Strong), and Arohanui from New Zealand.
Look up Mark felton
He's a brit who does phenomenal research in the stories he brings back to light after they've been forgotten... I. Sure he even has done some about new Zealand
Thank you for doing this Norm. Your mention of Lieutenant V. McElroy of Richmond, Ont hits close to home for me as it's a small town where I grew up! I will research his military career etc.
My great grand uncles grave is in Roclincourt Military Cemetery near Arras. Thankfully it's been visited by members of our family before and there are pictures of them standing next to the tombstone. He was killed in April of 1917. Hopefully I'll get to visit him someday also.
1) I did laugh when they said something like this" For some reason they recorded the ceremony of the nurses burial. There should be one word immediately. It was recorded to be used in propaganda! Whether it was true or false it still is awesome propaganda. No disrespect to the nurses at all.
2) If the video is supposed to be about all Canadian cemeteries just say so! There is nothing wrong with doing it that way. French normally highlight French cemeteries, Americans highlight American cemeteries. It is fine as long as you say so up front. The same criticism goes to Americans if they made the same mistake. Otherwise it is false and misleading.
THANK YOU ITS GETTING NEAR THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN MUCH APPRECIATED ,NEVER FORGET , .
God holds them kindly
British carried out horrific atrocities against Indians. But they were shameless enough to claim that they were fighting against tyranny. The Canadians were killed defending monsters sitting in London.
My great grandfather was in the 4th Territorial Battalion of The Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI). He had fought at Hooge, on The Somme, Neuve Chapelle, and in the 3rd Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). On the Canadian soldiers, my great grandfather said that they were strong strapping lads with excellent characters, and that it was a pleasure to have known and served alongside them in WW1.
As a Canadian it's nice to see a historian that is internationally recognized 👍👍
Until you have been there, it's difficult to comprehed the scale of the suffering and death, a visit should be on the national curriculum for all 13 or 14 year old kids, I guarantee many would lead different lives afterward.
Touching documentary. I visited the Ypres saliant and the Fromelles area in 2020. On route we visited each battle cemetery we passed. And it were quite a lot.
I've been to Cabaret Rouge cemetery, among others. There are Islamic headstones there for the French North-African troops there that were "Mort pour le France". The D-Q Line battle saw seven Canadian VC's in one day.
Such a good video
From Australia. LEST WE FORGET
My great grand father was in the 2nd Battalion , first Division, served until the start of the war in 1914 and was injured due to gas and being buried by a shell in the first gas attacks in April,1915, but became a corporal and later as he became more ill he was tasked with burying the dead until he was honorably discharged in March ,1917, just before the big show at Vimy.Still very proud of his service and frankly just surviving.He left me his medals and 1 dog tag and all the paper work of his service, I even have an original 2nd Battalion roster with every soldiers address , mothers name and town or city they are from and rank and serial number.
Thank you for this tour and all the details about the fallen. Beautifully done! My grandfather fought in WWI at the Battle of St. Quentin in the British military. After the war, he immigrated with his new wife to Canada and had 6 children, the youngest being my mother. 🥰
An excellent presentation, as all of Norm Christie's are. He is indeed a great and important Canadian. Somewhere there, microscopic pieces of my uncle must remain. For this he earned his name upon the Vimy Memorial. And to think he could be considered one of the lucky ones.
Very sad & twenty years later repeated.The son by Gene Austin made it hit home.
8.45 "Some Time We'll Understand"
"Nott now, but in the coming years,
It may be in the better land,
We'll read the meaning of our tears,
And there, some time, we'll understand.
Chorus:
Then trust in God thro' all the days;
Fear not, for He doth hold thy hand;
Though dark thy way, still sing and praise,
Some time, some time, we'll understand.
2 We'll catch the broken thread again,
Anmd finish what we here began;
Heav'n will the mysteries explain,
And then, ah, then, we'll understand (Chorus)
3 We'll know why clouds instead of sun
Were over many a cherished plan;
Why song has ceased when scarce begun;
'Tis there, some time, we'll understand. (Chorus)
4 God knows the way, He holds the key,
He guides us with unerring hand;
Some time with tearless eyes we'll see;
Yes, there, up there, we'll understand. (Chorus"
20 years after this happen, IT ALL HAPPENS AGAIN
An excellent documentary,so well made,a few details such as the diabolical bombing of the medical staff,and the Japanese Canadian volunteers.
RIP boys and girls.
Hello. My great grandfather was killed November 9 1917 and is buried in White House cemetery. At 11:30 mark, the presenter speaks about two unlucky men killed by a shell working on the road. Is this fiction or non-fiction story? Just curious if the presenter knows?
I work as a guide and speaker for the CWGC, giving talks dealing with this very subject. It is a pleasure to hear you speak with such authority and knowledge and in doing so ensuring that the sacrifices that these men made will not be forgotten. I salute you sir.
My great uncle John is buried near Arras France.My great uncle Dan’s body was not recovered.His name is on the Thiepval Memorial.
Again a rather objectionable point... Many lives were not lost "for a few acres of farmers fields "at the somme. Strategically, the battle - with the resistance of Verdun - broke German morale. Yes, the battle was a bloodbath, but the ultimate breakthrugh in which the Canadians played their part - along with others - achieved much more than a few acres... Armchair generals such as this commentator are the worst...
ww1 returned the landscape of Belgium to it's primordial state, this was once land that could only be settled trough the raising of tirps (terpen) large artificial hills on which villages lay, around these existed farmland and swamps. it is in the linguistic origins of flanders itsself.
I hope George and Wilhelm enjoyed all this. Oz had no conscription in WWI thanks apparently to the large Irish population; I think there was a referendum.
As these cemetery’s and battle fields are being encroached on when they find remains or artifacts do the collect them and try to relocate them properly?
Yes of course they do. Great trouble is taken to try to identify the remains. But they are given military funerals.
Thank you very much for a beautiful video, very informative and deeply moving.
What purpose was served by bombi the hospital.I don't understand what the point was.
War is terrible, but I feel a sense of appreciation that these cemeteries are still cared for and maintained after all these years, even though a lot of folks may not take time to visit them
As an Australian I urge you to go to The Menin Gate in Belgium. A living memorial
Ww1 was pure horror and insanity with at times thousands killed in one day.
and women.... of course nursing sisters we love you all
Where were the German wounded treated? Air raid on hospital is terrible.
Thank you.... For this respect.
My grandfather j j Cain .asc France 1915-1920driver.was at a place called. Candas.with German soldiers.transporting body’s to the main cemeteries.I think there was a German cemetery near this was after 1918
Thank you for this video. It is so devastatingly sad to know how many fallen German soldiers are buried there and some of them so very young. I’m so glad that this cemetery was formed for these brave fallen young men and that they are still remembered. They were someone’s, husband, father, son and it is so sad that they lost their lives fighting for their country and knowing they were fighting a losing battle in the end. Bless them all and may all their Souls RIP. They will always be remembered.
I visited the German War Cemetery in Cannock Chase in England. I have been there twice. Four thousand are buried there and it is a very beautiful cemetery. Many trees and flowers and it’s so very peaceful and I always get a lump in my throat.
But thank you for sharing this video😊
Has a video ever been made of Delville wood
Hi Norm, just found this video of yours about WW1.
Did you happen to be at the Beaumont-Hamel memorial on November 13th?
There is a common and in my view mistaken view about the Great War: that it was senseless and had no purpose; also that *humanity* didn't learn from the death and destruction in it. However this misunderstands politics, which is a matter of conflict. If someone attacks you or your friends, you either defend yourself or submit to their authority.
The Great War is an example of that. It was a dreadful war, fought very poorly in many ways. However at the time the bulk of at least the British soldiers seemed to accept that there was a purpose to it, that it was a good cause. You can hear this in accounts of the war from many veterans, like in the Peter Jackson film They Shall Not Grow Old, but also elsewhere. The classic war poets like Sassoon and Owen said important things, but the interpretation of their works has led to a mass misunderstanding of war in my view.
I think a movie should be made about those on grave duty finding corpses or meat shrapnel extracting the dead from the mud,repatriating the dead,the stench must have been awful.
It should be noted that Germans French British and all the others were trudging around the battlefields to retrieve their fallen .
These grave diggers treated the dead with due reverence no matter which side they were on.
I suspect that Indian and negroes were given this horrendous task but I don't know for a fact that this was so.
I went to Arras Cambrai Mons and Amiens there is an sense of wandering souls not in the cemeteries but on a country road or a field, I swear I had a flashback, like a photograph of some carnage it made the hairs on my neck stand up as if I had seen a ghost.
I would like to recommend the ballad of Willie McBride by the Chieftains but be prepared it will make you weep.
the major? int business corp were the winners many/ ? quadrupled in size.boys ? fell for the king and country bsht
respect to all this brave men
I'm living in Brantford Ontario and my father's side of the family is from that area. I grew up with a Macdonald family next to my grandma's house. I wonder if they are related? Maybe not but it's possible
I remember a female friend of my uncle - this is regarding WW2 rather than WW1- saying that all the people she had known of whom went off to war as being " they all got killed ". Now, far from everyone whom goes off to war does get killed but such was her retrospective. Someone else, a radio ham, I heard say on the CB that he lost a stack of friends to the war.
This is what war is about. Why?
A really great Video, I enjoyed watching very informative.
The french Canadian priest was also probably put in that cemetery because it's a roman Catholic one. Another reason among others.
Thank you. So beautifully presented.
"But it's the head stone that gives you the story of the real war". Not to sure about that in regards to ww1.
Terrific tribute the contribution of our Canadian brothers in arms
No wonder they tried to forget and ignore WW1 as quickly as possible. It was the most useless and stupid war in modern history. There was one guy, however, who refused to forget.
Useless?
@@winterwolf9797 I think he is referring to the first world War not having bad guys, and it being mostly over territory and random disputes between countries that could have been settled diplomatically.
@@Daniel-pr2tp the First World War definitely had “bad guys” ... as did the Second World War, For example on the 4th of August Germany invaded Belgium and on the 6th Britain declared war defending Belgium, and halting their advance. These commonwealth and Allied men died defending their country and the rights of smaller nations... we are forever in the debt. 🌹
@@winterwolf9797 Poor little Belgium ? Killer of 10 million Africans. I am definitely no advocate for African humanity over European humanity, but it was still the same Belgium regime in place as of 1914 and the sheer greed and non-renunciation to do with European ventures in the New World.
@@jonglewongle3438 yes poor little Belgium! 😂 so your saying the people of Belgium who had nothing to do with Africa, should suffer?? The very people who had there homes and livelihoods obliterated by fighting? Which one again happened 20 years later... they should suffer? So you think the (German) Jewish population deserved to be in the camps in ww2 because Germany as a country has done bad things??
Good to know how well the Canadians fought.
The short movie clips make you see & feel somewhat the way it was.
For what.....?
Never again
Excellent.
I visited various cemetery's whilst undertaking army basic training. These sacred grounds should be removed from tourism and businesses and are a place for contemplation.
I disagree. WWI tourism is an educational resource for people to understand the war and WW I tourism also provides jobs to young French and Belgian citizens. Turning it into some quasi-religious theme park would guarantee that the sacrifices would be forgotten.
Ehh frikken heart breaking hearing the death letters. As a father of two young boys this kinda tore me up seeing and hearing all this.
Senseless war. Fought over what? Serbia, the death of one man and his wife (which is its own tragedy) but not worth this type of loss. I would imagine not one person that fought that war would say Serbia was worth it.
That was an excuse. The Austro-Hungarians wanted to go to war with Serbia for further control over the Balkans. They never anticipated that the war would expand the way that it did. They only planned to fight Serbia and with Germany backing them, that would keep Russia, France, and the UK out of the conflict.
The Danes were too.
That war was neither great or glorious.
Goodness me how ignorant are you. It meant graft as is all encompassing. Not great as in good. For shame!
Heart wrenching !!
You can tell by the inscriptions that no one had a clue why they were dying... 'For the empire'...' 'For King and Country'...'To save his friends'... and for all of this senseless slaughter no one was held to account.
The inscriptions are for the families. Soldiers only fight for themselves and their groups; as sections and platoons. Being wet, hungry, tired and miserable don't make you think about patriotism........
The Belgians don't see it quite like this. From a strategic point of view the British didn't want a militaristic European hegemon dominating the whole coast facing it. And one that saw it as an enemy.
@@jimmyhillschin9987 I've heard muslims laugh at the wars the christians fight among themselves.
The soldiers definitely wouldn't say that right before death, especially trench warfare.
Thier family but the inscriptions on those headstones. It was their choice.
We must preserve the sanctity of these hallowed grounds. They'll be plowing over it all in a couple of decades if we don't SAVE THE WEST. "Have you forgotten yet? Look up and swear by the green of the spring that you'll never forget." - Siegfried Sassoon (1896-1967)
When I watch these documentaries of WW1 & WW2 plus others im saddened by their sacrifices. What irks me particularly is watching the leftist youth & their ridiculous gender politics & many deranged feminist of today who owe everything to these ppl.
Another good one. Only thing was the stupid accents in Japanese and French. We do understand the context.....
In the modern age, they'd sooner teach the history of punjabistan in our schools than the history and sacrifice these lost Canadians went through.
I did not like that comment implying the Brits used up the commonwealth soldiers before their own at the Somme. A distant relative of mine, a Brit, died on the first day, his first day in action, 21. Otherwise, a pretty intersting film - would have been nice to something more said about the enemy losses though!
Be that as it may, military strategists have criticized British leaders for a long time for "using up" Commonwealth troops. In WW1 & WW2, this was one of the reasons US Generals had for not serving under British commanders.
I have seen some statistical data supporting the idea that the Brits, the Soviets, Russians, Chinese, WW2 Germany, and others were more "wasteful" with ancillary troops.
This trend has certainly changed with NATO, but the statement was at least valid on the surface.
The Narrator must not be a Christian. He failed to cite the biblical verse. Philippians 1:3 on the headstone. Must be a liberal or a non Christian. What a dude!
The inscription on the headstone is the verse!
@@christophercoupe5006 I know...but he does not say the biblical verse. Tells a lot about one.
@ Who cares, I'm not a bible thumper. i didn't notice, I'm not creaming in my pants over it.
Boring AF
So why did you watch it...?
Yeah you maybe. But I’m sure your Mum loves ya. Or maybe not.
What a horrible documentary,
Just going to memorials?
Tell me this how bad it was.
I think we already know that
Next
There are plenty of docs on the subject, this one is focused on the personal accounts of the soldiers and nurses.
You didn't have to watch it.
I,was okay,holding back the tears.until,the nurses.