Author Archives: Magicfingers

Remember the Dead – The 3rd Bn. Monmouthshire Regiment & the Second Battle of Ypres

Posted on November 10, 2024 by Magicfingers

Men of the initial draft of the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment (colloquially known as 3rd Mons, and mainly recruited from the Gwent area) parade at Abergavenny in South Wales in August 1914.  Part of the 83rd Brigade, 28th Division, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | 9 Comments

Austro-Hungarian Hand Grenades of the Great War Part Fifteen – The M16 ‘Cigaro’

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Magicfingers

Here’s another of those curious contraptions that litter my Man Cave.  And if you disregard the vanes at the top, this image shows exactly why this was referred to as the Cigaro. 

Posted in Austro-Hungarian Grenades, Weaponry & Relics | 10 Comments

Post Update No. 5 – Railway Dugouts Burial Ground (Transport Farm)

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Magicfingers

Just like London buses, you wait for ages, and then two turn up almost at once.  Here’s another updated post from way back for you, and this one has had a major overhaul.  You can see what you think by … Continue reading →

Posted in Zillebeke | 2 Comments

Post Update No. 4 – Bedford House Cemetery

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Magicfingers

An update to a post that was first published over thirteen years ago, mainly because I have always been aware that when I visited I had missed, among many, one particular grave that I should have photographed, and which I … Continue reading →

Posted in Zillebeke | 5 Comments

A Meeting of Military Minds

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Magicfingers

Not exactly your average Sunday, as we find ourselves in a school hall somewhere in the depths of leafy Surrey – and we do have a lot of leaves in Surrey, being the county, apparently, with the most trees in … Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | 12 Comments

Hound (St. Mary) Churchyard Extension & War Memorial

Posted on September 21, 2024 by Magicfingers

Now that’s a cute little church if ever I saw one. 

Posted in Hampshire, U.K. Churches, Memorials & Cemeteries - Back in Blighty | Leave a comment

Mending the Soldiers: An Introduction – Harold Delf Gillies

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Magicfingers

Pioneer of plastic surgery and, later, much later, sex reassignment surgery, maxillofacial mastermind Harold Delf Gillies (later, Sir Harold Delf Gillies), pictured before the Great War. 

Posted in Medical | 4 Comments