First, last or the millions in between. Rudyard Kipling says it all:
Attachment 621867
First, last or the millions in between. Rudyard Kipling says it all:
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Who was the last to die in WWI? A question that is Impossible to definitively answer.
George Lawrence Price - Canadian Soldier of the British Empire. Shot and killed by a sniper at 10:58 a.m. in the village of Havre.
Henry Nicholas John Gunther - American Soldier. Shot and killed while advancing on German lines at 10:59 a.m. on the Meuse-Argonne front.
George Edwin Ellison - British Soldier. Shot and killed near Mons, at 9:30 a.m.
Augustin Trebuchon - French Soldier. Shot and killed at 10:45 a.m. while delivering a message to troops by the River Meusse, that the soup would be served at 11:30 a.m. after the peace.
A German Leutnant named Tomas was shot and killed "after the 11th hour" by American troops in the Meuse-Argonne while trying to inform the US soldiers that they were vacating the houses they had been using as billets.
There are, of course, soldiers who died After 11/11/1918 11:00 a.m. Soldiers such as on the Mozambique Border who did not recieve the news for 3 days. Soldiers who died of their wounds or disease, sometimes Long after Nov. 11. It is told that in "a few minutes before 11" that the Germans fired an Artillery barrage onto a Regiment of Begian soldiers and that "several of them died".
Officially, over 10,000-some sources give the number at 10,944- men were killed, wounded or went missing on November 11. The American forces alone under Pershing(following Foch's orders) suffered well over 3,000 casualties that final terrible day. Some men died Years or even Decades later as Direct results of their war injuries. So, while the 5 men above are generally "honored" as having been the last to fall, they really were not. Just Who actually did? It is impossible to ever say....
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
Very true William, so many died many years later while many others suffered years of pain and torment from their wounds, both physical and mental.
May they all Rest In Peace.
Regards,
Jerry
Whateverits just an opinion.
These moving monuments also speak to the remembrance of sacrifice these men (and boys) made 100 years ago. St. Juliaan Brooding Soldier memorial on the corner where Canada fought its first battle as an independent nation and withstood the first ever gas attack, Langemarck where the youth of Germany spilled its blood, and the Menin Gate at Ypres upon the road so many marched and never would return, where 55,000 names of the missing are inscribed.
Of course there is Thiepval, Tyne Cot, Vimy Ridge, and many many more memorials but these I find very moving and try to visit each time I am in Belgium.
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One must remember that the war did not end on November 11th, it was just a cease fire. I suspect that the officers assumed that there would not be any resistance at that point and that they would be able to be in a better position when the cease fire went into effect.
There appears to be another history, Doug... the one associated with this monument itself.
But, before I begin, I wish to tell you how much I like the quote associated as your moniker:
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
With your quote in mind... who may have removed the horizontal stone from this cross... if in fact there was one there originally?by DougB
If removed, was it done as an official 'act' of a pressured monument or government organization?
Could it have been a monumental act of vandalize? It would have taken a rather monumental effort for a middle-of-the-night crew to pull off such a feat, if that's what happened.
Can anyone shed a bit more light on the history of this sculpture?
Don't want to jump the gun but would it make you feel just a bit cross knowing that such the desecration of a tribute of another time and of another mindset would have been committed?
Am I being too American on the subject? Just a bit too esprit de corps, perhaps... even if it wasn't my own corps?
Last edited by STBaltimore; 01-22-2014 at 11:26 PM. Reason: To add Doug's quote...
I don't think there ever was a piece there !, have a look at this old postcard from my collection, it shows the unveiling of the memorial,
cheers, John.
A couple of photo's from my visit last year,
John.
Was the monument intended to be a Cross? I had always viewed it as a Broken Great Sword, which makes sense to me for a monument of soldiers who will never fight again...
William
"Much that once was, is lost. For none now live who remember it."
As far as I know its supposed to represent a Canadian soldier resting his hands on a reversed rifle, like the real soldier on my old postcard.
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