Every village in France has its war memorial, the lists of names a sad litany of those “morts pour la France”. The longest rollcall by far is that of World War I. Few families were spared the tragedy of deaths, sometimes multiple, injuries and enduring mental scars. More than a century later, the memory stillContinue reading “A Poignant Anniversary: the Armistice of World War I”
Tag Archives: Armistice Day
Eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month
“But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you areContinue reading “Eleven o’clock on the eleventh day of the eleventh month”
True Inspiration for Fiction #5: the Ghosts of World War I
At 11 am on this day in 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Ninety-nine years later, none of the combatants in that terrible war is alive, but the memories still echo down the years. In France, where I live, the smallest village has its war memorial. Often, several men with the same surnameContinue reading “True Inspiration for Fiction #5: the Ghosts of World War I”
Vanessa Couchman 