Archive | Out & About

On the way down to the Loos battlefield we took in a number of other cemeteries, one of which was La Gorgue Communal Cemetery. I first came across the story of 2nd Lieutenant Vincent Sladen Wing (III.A.10) while thumbing through my copy of the “University of London OTC – Roll of War Service 1914-1919”. His entry […]

During a recent trip to the battlefields I had with me a former member of the Scots Guards. This was his third year with us and, as ever, we spent some of our time looking at locations and cemeteries connected to his former regiment.  This year, based in Ypres, we took a look at the […]

Private John RAE, 2nd Scots Guards, fell in action on the 28th November 1914, aged 29. He came from Ellon in Aberdeenshire and his wife was from Guernsey. His DCM was awarded for gallantry on numerous occasions whilst engaged on scouting duties. On the night of the 27th/28th November, while the battalion was in trenches […]

Ever since my first visit to the Western Front I have always carried a notebook with me. Like many people, I always have a number of things I want to look at and these form the basis of my itinerary. However, in the case of cemeteries, I nearly always come across things of interest that […]

Another trip I did this year was to St.Quentin. We were mainly concerned with that stretch of the retreat in 1914 that lies between Le Cateau and St Quentin itself, including Landrecies and Etreux. For this particular group, it was their first time on this part of the Western Front, and as it was approaching […]

On a recent trip with a group in July we visited a number of CWGC cemeteries which, judging from the entries in the visitors’ books, attract relatively few people. Those who had been there recently appeared to have been visiting the grave of a relative or someone from their home town, area or regiment. We were based in Mons throughout the trip and […]