Author Archives: Magicfingers

The Menin Road – Hooge Crater Cemetery

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Magicfingers

Before we begin a new tour, which we shall be doing soon, there’s a cemetery, one of the largest to the east of Ypres, in fact the very first CWGC cemetery that I ever set foot in, back in 2005, … Continue reading →

Posted in The Menin Road | 22 Comments

Dublin – Kilgobbin War Memorial & Kilternan Churchyard

Posted on January 27, 2019 by Magicfingers

A beautiful winter’s day, and this is the little cemetery at Kilgobbin, about six and a half miles south, and a little east, of Dublin City centre.

Posted in Dublin Cemeteries with Great War Burials, Ireland | 4 Comments

The Dead Donkeys: The Myth of the ‘Château Generals’ Part Six – 1918

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Magicfingers

And so we arrive at the final part of this series.  1918 was the year when the nature of the war would change once more, as three years of trench warfare gave way to mobile warfare, with vast sweeping assaults, … Continue reading →

Posted in Generals | 13 Comments

The Dead Donkeys: The Myth of the ‘Château Generals’ Part Five – 1917

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Magicfingers

The first General Officer casualty in 1917 occurred on 24th January when Brigadier-General Cyril (not Cecil, as many sources erroneously state) Prescott-Decie, C.R.A. 4th Division (left), was severely wounded ‘somewhere in France’, although he would recover, becoming B.G.R.A.* Irish Command … Continue reading →

Posted in Generals | 4 Comments

The Dead Donkeys: The Myth of the ‘Château Generals’ Part Four – 1916

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Magicfingers

January 1916 saw the deaths of two British generals.  Brigadier-General Hugh Gregory Fitton D.S.O., G.O.C. 101st Brigade, 34th Division (above), forced to cross open ground due to the appalling state of the front line trenches near Ypres on the night … Continue reading →

Posted in Generals | 10 Comments

The Dead Donkeys: The Myth of the ‘Château Generals’ Part Three – Gallipoli 1915 – Disaster in the Dardanelles

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Magicfingers

The Gallipoli section of this series of posts is the only part where I have included all General Officers, including those who were dismissed – and one of them had earned a D.S.O. in South Africa in 1900 in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Generals | 13 Comments

The Dead Donkeys: The Myth of the ‘Château Generals’ Part Two – The Western Front 1915

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Magicfingers

1915 would begin with the deaths of two generals that I introduced you to last post.  On 22nd February, Brigadier-General Sir John Edmond Gough V.C., Chief of Staff 1st Army, was killed by a German sniper on the Aubers Ridge, … Continue reading →

Posted in Generals | 12 Comments