Britain's Great War - WWI

[bigbadjeff]

At my fathers funeral recently I found out that my grandfathers brother was awarded the VC at the Somme. He was in the 36th Ulster devision

 

[bigbadjeff]

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypl...lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=12&snum=&e=w

Pte Robert Quigg VC

 

[The Esk]

http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypl...lword=&lfield=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=12&snum=&e=w

Pte Robert Quigg VC

Amazing story bbj!

A Bushmills man, Robert Quigg was a member of the UVF and when war came he enlisted in the 12th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles (Mid-Antrim Volunteers). His platoon commander was Lieutenant Harry McNaughten the heir to the Bushmills' McNaughten Estate.

On the 1st of July Robert's platoon advanced three times only to be beaten back by the Germans. Many hundreds of the 12th Battalion were either killed or wounded. In the confusion of battle it became known that Lieutenant McNaughten was missing. Robert Quigg immediately volunteered to go out into no-mans land and search for his commander.

His actions during that fruitless search led him to receive the Victoria Cross. His citation reads as follows....

"..... hearing a rumour that his platoon officer was lying wounded, he went out seven times to look for him, under heavy shell and machine-gun fire, each time bringing back a wounded man. The last man he dragged on a waterproof sheet from within yards of the enemy's wire. He was seven hours engaged in this most gallant work, and was finally so exhausted that he had to give it up."

The body of Harry McNaughten was never found.

Robert Quigg returned to Bushmills to a hero's welcome. He died in 1955 and was buried with full military honours at Billy Church.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/antrim/A777026.shtml

 

[Allezfan]

In WWI and WWII they were mostly conscripted, and those who did volunteer went because they had nothing else but a life of grinding poverty. When they came back home they were sent back into their inner city slums/satanic mill towns and left to get on with it as their reward.

I do hope the BBC in all it's latter-day jingoism makes a documentary showing that experience, I wouldn't bet on it though. This year's gore-fest is, of course, a celebration of war, as the rewriting of that earlier conflict cracks on apace. No room for tales of returning soldiers with their minds and bodies transformed and battered into submission living brutalised lives having seen and failed to cope with the butchery (although the 'officer class' will no doubt get their massive amount of exposure and sympathetic hearing for facing up to the Bosch with great courage etc etc).

Paxman was openly weeping that this modern generation was too 'hedonistic' and 'obsessed with personal freedom' to allow themselves to be butchered in their millions for the sake of an upper class that cared nothing about them the other day.

What a tragedy, aye jeremy.

 

[bigbadjeff]

Amazing story bbj!



http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/yourplaceandmine/antrim/A777026.shtml

Exactly mate. It was only at my fathers funeral I found out how closely related to him I was.

 

[nigelcoyb]

I thought paxo did a great job on this series particularly referencing the behind the scenes shiftiness that always goes on. The bit about getting the women to work when up the creek without a paddle in exchange for giving them the vote I never knew. In fact the whole milestone of WW1 was the working people of this country standing up to the centuries old ruling class, the ship workers of glasgow forcing the fair rent act through was extraordinary.

With leverage and unity even the most powerful must listen.