The Battle of the Somme (French: Bataille de la Somme, German: Schlacht an der Somme), also known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of upper reaches of the River Somme in France. It was the largest battle of World War I on the Western Front; more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history.ONE MILLION DEAD OR WOUNDED, for what? For empire, wealth and power for the privileged parasites that lord it over us. This description of The Lonsdales, one of the units involved in this carnage for power, is just a glimpse of what was repeated and repeated.
Few units in the British army can have fared worse on 1 July 1916 than the Lonsdales. Formed of volunteers from north-west England swept up in the outpouring of patriotic fervour at the start of the First World War, the 850-strong battalion joined the walking-pace advance on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Within hours, they had lost more than 500 men. Not only the commanding officer – shot in the head as he leapt from a trench – but the second-in-command, the adjutant and every one of the company commanders had been either wounded or killed.
The survivors, next put to work digging up the remains of their friends, lived in a miasma of decomposing bodies and faced continuous shelling without sleep. A week after the massacre, they were ordered to go over the top again. This time they refused. Command was apoplectic. At the troops’ request, Lieutenant George Kirkwood, the battalion’s medical officer, was despatched to see them. He saw at once that the men were at their nerves’ end, and testified in a written report that most of them were suffering from the mysterious new ailment known as “shell shock”.
DANDELIONS written and sung by STEVE O'DONOGHUE. Steve will be one of the performers at HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YET? THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SOMME, Sunday 19 June, Heath Street Baptist Church, London NW3 1DN, remembering one of Britain's most disastrous conflicts through words and music. Co-hosted by No Glory in War and Stop the War Coalition. BOOK HERE: http://www.noglory.org
Dandelions, The Lyrics:
Now Arthur was only a young cub
A brave lion and merely fifteen
But with the rest of his pack
He was sent to attack
To a war that was cruel and obscene
But those lions fought hard and fought bravely
While the donkeys just grazed in a field
They had no sense of shame for their barbarous game
And the thousands of lions they killed
A brave lion and merely fifteen
But with the rest of his pack
He was sent to attack
To a war that was cruel and obscene
But those lions fought hard and fought bravely
While the donkeys just grazed in a field
They had no sense of shame for their barbarous game
And the thousands of lions they killed
And when he saw them marching up Whitehall
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
Now every remembrance sunday
Well I pause at eleven o'clock
And I remember those dandy young lions
And those donkeys and their poppycock
Cos they've taken those beautiful poppies
And they use them to glorify war
Well I remember those dandy young lions
And I don't wear a poppy no more
Well I pause at eleven o'clock
And I remember those dandy young lions
And those donkeys and their poppycock
Cos they've taken those beautiful poppies
And they use them to glorify war
Well I remember those dandy young lions
And I don't wear a poppy no more
And when he saw them marching up Whitehall
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
Now if you take an old dandelion
And just blow it quite gently he'd say
You can see all the dreams of those soldiers
In the seeds as they just float away
But then the wind takes hold of those seeds
And they rise and quickly they soar
Like the spirit of all those old soldiers
Who believed that their war would end war
And just blow it quite gently he'd say
You can see all the dreams of those soldiers
In the seeds as they just float away
But then the wind takes hold of those seeds
And they rise and quickly they soar
Like the spirit of all those old soldiers
Who believed that their war would end war
And when he saw them marching up Whitehall
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
Cos those lions were dandy young workers
Who those donkeys so cruelly misled
And if the Donkeys are gonna wear poppies
I shall wear dandelions instead.
Who those donkeys so cruelly misled
And if the Donkeys are gonna wear poppies
I shall wear dandelions instead.
And when he saw them marching up Whitehall
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
I remember what old Arthur said
He said the donkeys are all wearing poppies
So I shall wear dandelions instead
Source: No Glory in War
From the Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"Some men suffering from 'shell shock' were put on trial, and even executed, for military crimes including desertion and cowardice. While it was recognised that the stresses of war could cause men to break down, a lasting episode was likely to be seen as symptomatic of an underlying lack of character. For instance, in his testimony to the post-war Royal Commission examining shell-shock, Lord Gort said that shell-shock was a weakness and was not found in "good" units."
There are still too many Lords Gort, whose delusional minds believe that these atrocities are human values. While people are massacred, they receive honors and take their tea in luxurious halls. God Save the Queen? No. We must save ourselves from from both of them!
Great video! "War is organised murder an nothing else".
ReplyDeleteThere are Two Spains (Hay does Españas) - León Felipe
ReplyDeleteThere are two Spains: that of the soldier and that of the poet. That of the fratricidal sword and that of the wandering song. There are two Spains and only one song. And this is the song of the wandering poet:
Soldier, the hacienda,
The house,
The horse
And the pistol are yours.
The ancient voice of the earth is mine.
You keep everything and leave me naked and wandering across the world...
But I leave you mute...mute!
So how will you gather the wheat
And feed the fire
If I have taken the song?
From Ganarás la luz
Let the Poet Come (Que venga el poeta) - León Felipe
ReplyDeleteLet the poet come.
You brought me here to count the stars,
To bathe in the river and make drawings in the sand.
That was the contract.
And now you use me to make snares and padlocks,
To load a rifle and write in a court of justice.
You brought me here to sing at weddings,
But here I am crying, beside an open grave.
From Ganarás La Luz
Beautiful and provocative words.
ReplyDelete