Powerful picture from 1919

Powerful picture from 1919 resonates around the world

On Remembrance Sunday the project posted on its Twitter site a scene in a London street (pictured) on the first anniversary of Armistice day in 1919.This powerful image of national remembrance was re-circulated by more than 300 other Twitter sites such that more than 200,000 people will have received the picture – possibly the same number as those gathered on that London street 94 years ago.

The picture captures the overwhelming national solidarity that must have been engendered by the terrible toll of the previous four years. Now as we prepare to enter the centenary of the outbreak of the war on 4^th August, 1914 there is a palpable sense that the nation will seek to recognise and re-evaluate the loss and the changes wrought by that tragic episode in the history of the modern world.

Over the period of the centenary we will be reminded of the names of battles fought by the British, Dominion and colonial troops – many of which require little mention to reawaken sad memory amongst older generations who lost fathers, uncles and brothers in the well-known campaigns and battles on the Western Front. Of course the war involved our major ally France as well as Belgium and Russia. However it came as a surprise to me just how little recognition there is today of the major episodes that involved the French troops who suffered in equal measure with their British ally. The response of the other governments to the centenary (allies and foes alike) is different and it is fair to say that the centenary will not be marked in such definite terms as within the British and Commonwealth nations.

The most potent place name in modern French culture is Verdun – the fortification on the north east border area of France - the scene of fighting which was unparalleled in its ferocity and human toll and a place which has the same resonance for the French as The Somme and Passchendaele. The story of Verdun will be told at our next talk at the Low Lights Tavern, Brewhouse Bank, North Shields on Tuesday, 26^th November at 730pm. Tickets are still available from Keel Row Bookshop, Preston Road, North Shields and from the Low Lights Tavern.

Ian McArdle will examine the myths and the reality of this most important struggle; said to be one reason for the ill-fated Somme campaign – designed to take pressure off the French by forcing the German High Command to divert troops north to protect their front line in Picardy.

Correction – please note the lecture by Professor Gary Sheffield in March, 2014 will be given on 

4^th March –not 8^th March as stated in last week’s column.