Latest news with #BattleofPasschendaele
Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
First World War soldier's warning of 'a deuce of a bust-up' discovered in Tipperary home
A chilling prediction about one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War, anticipating 'a deuce of a bust-up in a short time', has been discovered in a letter unearthed during a house clear-out in Tipperary. Denis Kenny, from Thurles, was astonished to read the "bust-up" warning that features in one of two letters written by his late granduncle Jim Maher, and which appears to reference plans for the Battle of Passchendaele. The line made it through despite strict censorship of correspondence at the time, designed to prevent soldiers from disclosing any information about military activities. 'I really don't know how it made it past the defenders, so it's very interesting from a historical point of view,' Denis told the Irish Examiner. The prediction was contained in what turned out to be the final letter received from Jim before he lost his life in Belgium on August 11, 1917. 'One of the quotes in the letter to his sister Josephine, which dates back to April 6, 1917, is 'look out for squalls. There's going to be a deuce of a bust up,'' Dennis said. 'He had to be referring to the battle ahead.' Officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele came to epitomise the horrors of trench warfare, claiming more than 500,000 lives. The battle took place on the western front between July and November 1917, where soldiers were fighting for control of the ridges located south and east of the Belgian city of Ypres. Denis Kenny holds a picture of his granduncle Jim Maher at his home near Thurles. The striking family resemblance is evident in the century-old image. Picture: Chani Anderson Denis, who found two letters from his granduncle Jim while clearing out his late mother's house, said that some of the details contained within are heartbreaking. In a letter to Josephine, Jim tells her not to send an undershirt because 'we don't wear them'. 'You have to read between the lines,' Denis said. Soldiers back then were encouraged not to have too many layers of material on in battle in case they made access to a wound difficult "My guess is that this was the case for my granduncle.' Instead, Jim asked his sister to send him some 'shaving sticks, soap, and a shirt'. 'I'm sorry for not responding to your letter sooner, but I did not have any time as we were up making advanced gun preliminaries. Consequently, I had no opportunity for letter writing.' "We are presently billeted in a large town a few miles behind the line. Our pay, combined with the high prices of goods, does not allow us to do much shopping on our own,' the letter read. 'A glass of coffee, one slice of bread, and dripping costs seven French francs. One small piece of soap, half of ordinary size at home, is eight francs. 10 francs for two weeks' pay will not go towards procuring us a decent spread.' In the letter, Jim also talks about his hopes for 'a speedy termination to the war". Denis reads a miniature Christmas card sent home by his granduncle in 1915 while serving in France. Picture: Chani Anderson Another letter was addressed to his "aunt Kate". In it, he enquires about her health, and adds: 'Do not do too much work and be careful of yourself. I suppose it's useless telling you, as I suppose you could not live if you were not working about the sows and cattle. How is father? I'm sure he's killed." Only one line seems to allude to the war. Please God, the worst is over Denis said he had learned a lot about his granduncle's life over the years. 'Jim voluntarily signed up to join the armed forces at a local recruitment office, and was among those sent to their death in mainland Europe," he said. "He was 28 when he joined the army. I think he was looking for a sense of adventure. The regiment he signed up for was the royal field artillery. "Ireland was part of the British empire at the time, but there were also a lot of nationalist republican and radical actions and rallies taking place. There was talk of conscription in those days, as the British wanted to get numbers. In the First World War, they just wanted to get numbers to fight. "There was talk of getting that into Ireland, but it didn't actually happen. Even though it never came to be, it caused a lot of anxiety and helped the republican cause," he added. He said there were a number of reasons behind Jim's decision to join the army. A set of service medals belonging to Jim Maher were also discovered in the clear-out. Picture: Chani Anderson 'He never married and joined the army in September 1915. The sad thing was that Jim's father William did his utmost to de-enlist him,' Denis told the Irish Examiner. 'He was particularly concerned given that his other son died in a hunting accident in 1909. He had already lost his son to violence, even if the killing was accidental. It must have been heartbreaking for him. He had been really worried about losing another son "I think he had hoped that Jim might stay home and maybe even take over the business, which was a local butchers.' Denis said the lives of officers and soldiers were worlds apart. 'There was a very obvious divide between the officers and soldiers. This was highlighted by the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were killed like my granduncle Jim. The officers had more opportunities. They were university educated and went to private schools," he added. The letters and war medals were discovered in a box during the clear-out. Picture Chani Anderson He said family members remained close to Jim despite their republican ties. 'Jim's sister Josephine was very active in Cumann na mBan, which was the women's organisation of the republican movement. She was a very senior figure in that. "Her husband Charles was a key figure in the IRB [Irish Republican Brotherhood]. Meanwhile, Jim was fighting for the British in France or Belgium. It's difficult to believe that his sister was fighting the same army he was in, albeit not this particular regiment. "You can imagine the interplay that was going on in the family, and yet they were very close," Denis said.
Western Telegraph
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
'Powerful' film shot in Pembrokeshire gets premiere date
Featuring two local actors, it focusses on a famous Welsh poet, Hedd Wyn, a pacifist, who was killed in Flanders on the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. The film, A Pack of Five, presents five soldiers sharing a joke, a smoke, and a moment of peace from the battlefields of the Somme. It explores the effects of battle on two young soldiers and their battle-hardened mentors, through their responses to Hedd Wyn's poetry and their own memories. Two of the soldiers in A Pack of Five are played by Rhodri Evan of Efailwen and Rhodri Lewis of Tegryn. (Image: Delyth Lloyd) It was filmed in the north Pembrokeshire village of Tegryn, where, said director John Parr, "the wildness of the wind and the grey skies while we were filming gives the film a special edge." 'Hedd Wyn's message of peace is more relevant than ever in today's world,' added Mr Parr, the Grammy-nominated artist and creator of the film. 'The small comfort of a pack of five cigarettes, gallows humour and soldiers' banter create a perfect setting for the quiet wisdom of his poetry – poetry which won him the highest accolade in Wales, the Chair in the National Eisteddfod, but he never lived to know it. "The themes of his poems, written in Welsh, transcend any language barrier and the film aims to bring them to a wider audience. "The wildness of the wind and the grey the film a special edge." (Image: Simon Howlett) "His is a voice and a message that should be heard today and always.' The film is written and produced by BAFTA Cymru Qualifying Director John Parr and also produced by Simon Howlett and Delyth Lloyd. It also features contributions from winning bards, Alan Llwyd and Ceri Wyn Jones, the Treorchy Male Voice Choir and the Harry Secombe Youth Musical Theatre Company. It will be premiered at next month's Carmarthen Bay Film Festival on May 19 after which it will be available to the public.
Wall Street Journal
08-05-2025
- Wall Street Journal
Fiction: ‘The Remembered Soldier' by Anjet Daanje
They were called les morts vivants, or the living dead. These were survivors of the battlefields of World War I who were so severely shell-shocked that they no longer knew who they were. Some were catatonic, some schizophrenic. In rare cases, they suffered from post-traumatic retrograde amnesia, an inability to remember any of their past, and if their identity tags had gone missing they would have been rendered anonymous. The men were housed in asylums. Their photos were advertised in newspapers and desperately scrutinized by the countless parents and widows whose loved ones had gone missing at the front. The most famous case was that of a man known as Anthelme Mangin, who was claimed by upward of 20 families. A custody dispute continued into the late 1930s, almost until the end of Mangin's damaged life. The Dutch writer Anjet Daanje has borrowed loosely from the Mangin case for her big, powerful drama of love and memory, 'The Remembered Soldier.' The Flemish-speaking soldier of this novel is called Noon Merckem, because in 1917 he was discovered around midday, wandering around a battlefield near Merckem, a village in the Flanders region of Belgium (he appears to have been involved in the Battle of Passchendaele). Since the end of the war, he has lived in the Guislain Asylum in Ghent, alone and with no idea of who he used to be. But in 1922 Julienne Coppens, a Belgian woman responding to an advertisement, recognizes him as her missing husband. He is, she says, Amand Stephaan Coppens, the proprietor of a photography studio and the father of two. Amand, as he must now get used to being called, leaves the asylum with Julienne, and Ms. Daanje progresses patiently through the stages of their acclimation. Initially he resides in their home as a guest, anxious and uncomfortable. Julienne is standoffish as well, assailed by longings but fearful of scaring Amand away. Gradually they begin to work side by side in the photography studio. Proximity softens their doubts and an intimacy blooms. For Amand, who cannot remember their earlier married life, this is a newlywed's passion, and the novel revels in the excitement of his 'puppy love.' The rub is that, in his dreams, Amand's memories are slowly returning, but they are not of Julienne—they are nightmares of battlefield slaughter that he cannot reconcile with his newfound domestic happiness. Here 'The Remembered Soldier' begins to explore the gray area between performance and reality. Amand and Julienne embrace the roles of the joyful couple reunited by the hand of providence while papering over Amand's panic attacks and strange, dissociative episodes. As word spreads of his homecoming and Amand plays the part of 'the miracle man' returned from the dead, he feels surprised by 'how easily his life can be reshaped into an inspiring story, correct in every factual detail, yet a lie from beginning to end.'
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former All Blacks player, coach Alex Wyllie dies at 80
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Famously tough All Blacks loose forward Alex (Grizz) Wyllie who went on to coach New Zealand to 25 wins in 29 tests has died. He was 80. Wyllie's death on Saturday as a result of cancer was confirmed by Canterbury Rugby Union which said 'it is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Alex 'Grizz' Wyllie who left us peacefully overnight.' Rugged and lavishly mustachioed, Wyllie came to personify the ideal of the rugby hard man. He played 11 tests among 40 games for the All Blacks and 210 matches for Canterbury province. During that period he was part of Canterbury team which won the Ranfurly Shield challenge trophy twice and beat England, Scotland and Ireland. He played for Canterbury in the 1971 match against the British and Irish Lions which the touring media portrayed as particularly bloody. The Lions prop Sandy Carmichael suffered a broken cheekbone in the match but Wyllie dismissed the notion the match was especially violent. 'Ray McLoughlin and one of our players were having a bit of a scuffle, I went in to step in and McLoughlin swung around and collected me (and broke his thumb),' Wyllie said in his final interview. 'Ivan Vodanovich (the All Blacks coach at the time) carried it a bit too far when he mentioned it was like the Battle of Passchendaele.' Wyllie was first an assistant to head coach Brian Lochore in the All Blacks team which won the 1987 World Cup. He then coached the team from 1988 until 1991, to wins in 58 of 64 matches for a 91 percent success rate. At the 1991 World Cup he was joined in the coaching box by John Hart in an odd couple combination which was unsuccessful. Hart was a corporate executive, Wyllie a man of the land and their methods and attitudes proved incompatible. In 1990 Wyllie sacked then All Blacks captain Wayne 'Buck' Shelford in what became a contentious and iconic incident in New Zealand rugby. 'Bring Back Buck' signs still appear regularly at All Black matches. ___ AP rugby:
Associated Press
23-03-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Former All Blacks player, coach Alex Wyllie dies at 80
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Famously tough All Blacks loose forward Alex (Grizz) Wyllie who went on to coach New Zealand to 25 wins in 29 tests has died. He was 80. Wyllie's death on Saturday as a result of cancer was confirmed by Canterbury Rugby Union which said 'it is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Alex 'Grizz' Wyllie who left us peacefully overnight.' Rugged and lavishly mustachioed, Wyllie came to personify the ideal of the rugby hard man. He played 11 tests among 40 games for the All Blacks and 210 matches for Canterbury province. During that period he was part of Canterbury team which won the Ranfurly Shield challenge trophy twice and beat England, Scotland and Ireland. He played for Canterbury in the 1971 match against the British and Irish Lions which the touring media portrayed as particularly bloody. The Lions prop Sandy Carmichael suffered a broken cheekbone in the match but Wyllie dismissed the notion the match was especially violent. 'Ray McLoughlin and one of our players were having a bit of a scuffle, I went in to step in and McLoughlin swung around and collected me (and broke his thumb),' Wyllie said in his final interview. 'Ivan Vodanovich (the All Blacks coach at the time) carried it a bit too far when he mentioned it was like the Battle of Passchendaele.' Wyllie was first an assistant to head coach Brian Lochore in the All Blacks team which won the 1987 World Cup. He then coached the team from 1988 until 1991, to wins in 58 of 64 matches for a 91 percent success rate. At the 1991 World Cup he was joined in the coaching box by John Hart in an odd couple combination which was unsuccessful. Hart was a corporate executive, Wyllie a man of the land and their methods and attitudes proved incompatible. In 1990 Wyllie sacked then All Blacks captain Wayne 'Buck' Shelford in what became a contentious and iconic incident in New Zealand rugby. 'Bring Back Buck' signs still appear regularly at All Black matches. ___
