Per Ardua Ad Astra

Posted on September 1, 2017 by Magicfingers

On 31st August 1917, a young pilot on a training run met his death when his Martinsyde G100 Elephant scout caught fire and broke up in the air before crashing near Hanworth, south west London. Continue reading →

Posted in Miscellaneous | 10 Comments

A Tour of Boesinghe Prelude – Duhallow A.D.S. Cemetery

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Magicfingers

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If you follow the main road out of Ieper (Ypres) north towards Boezinge (Boesinghe during the Great War), after only a few minutes, Duhallow A.D.S. Cemetery comes into view on the right hand side of the road. Continue reading →

Posted in Shot at Dawn, Ypres (Ieper) | 8 Comments

Dublin – The Garden of Remembrance

Posted on August 13, 2017 by Magicfingers

Time for the final set of photos from my Dublin trip late last year. Continue reading →

Posted in Dublin War Memorials | Leave a comment

Etaples Military Cemetery

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Magicfingers

One of the great things about not reading a tour itinerary properly (or having a lousy memory) is that sometimes you find yourself somewhere you had no idea that you were going to be, and if that happens to be somewhere you had always wanted to be, then so much the better. Continue reading →

Posted in Etaples, Victoria Cross | 12 Comments

L48

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Magicfingers

Having just returned from a few days r ‘n’ r in pastures old (Essex) and new (Suffolk) – for those of you who read the Back in Blighty posts, new categories for both counties will be appearing in due course – here’s a single photo, for the moment, from the trip.  Not exactly what you would normally expect to find in your local church.  Unless this is your local church, of course.  Anyway, what could it be?  Answers on a post card, etc etc.

Posted in Memorabilia | 6 Comments

The Somme: Thiepval – Mouquet (Mucky) Farm

Posted on July 9, 2017 by Magicfingers

Our final Thiepval post is a bit of a curiosity, in that there are only a handful of photos, and all were taken from a moving automobile.  Nonetheless, Mouquet Farm was a crucial German strongpoint during the summer of 1916, and as the photos came out okay, I might as well use the opportunity to impart a few facts about the battle for the farm.  The signpost above, in the centre of Pozières, directs us north west off the main Albert-Bapaume road towards Thiepval and the Thiepval Memorial, just under two miles away. Continue reading →

Posted in The Somme, Thiepval | 6 Comments

The Somme: Amiens – General Philippe Leclerc & French Resistance Memorials

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Magicfingers

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Wandering the streets of Amiens, as you do, one wet afternoon… Continue reading →

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