historicall.y

This poem was written by Roland Leighton shortly before his death in 1915 to his fiancé Vera Brittain.  Violets from Plug Street Wood, Sweet I send you over sea. (It is strange they should be blue, Blue when his soaked blood was red, For they grew around his head: It is strange they should be blue.) Think what they have meant to me- Life and Hope and Love and You. (and you did not see them grow Where his mangled body lay Hiding horrors from the day; Sweetest, it was better so.) Violets from over sea, To you dear, far, forgotten land These I send in memory Knowing you'll understand. Sources ~ Oxford University: Roland Aubrey Leighton

For the allies such as France and the United Kingdom, the enemies were the axis such as Germany and Turkey in the First World War and Germany and Italy in the Second World War. For the axis the enemies were the allies. In this post I want to stress how not all enemies were real enemies . Many of the 'enemies' were just ordinary men and women like you or me.  Admittedly the ordinary people were fighting for some enemies like the Nazis and power- crazed lunatics but they fought because they had no choice. We all seem to forget how everyone has at least one loved one and we all are humans with human emotions and feelings! In World War II the Nazis brainwashed the Germans with promises of a brighter future following the chaos caused by the First World War. And in both wars the people were persuaded by propaganda created by the governments. Therefore I plead that each and every reader and person does not look at the dreadful history of the wars and label each and every ci...

Possibly the worst conflict in human history, during World War I (1914- 1918) there were no families not affected by the end of the First World War. The 38 million casualties in Great Britain and a further 17 million deaths not only the military but also civilians. As you can imagine many, many hospitals were needed to treat the wounded and the people also effected mentally. As a result most manor houses became military hospitals and bases. Not only were there hospitals based just behind the Frontline in France and Belgium, there were also hospitals based in England. There were manor house hospital bases such as Kentwell Hall but generally original hospitals were used such as the one at Birmingham University. If a soldier was wounded or caught a disease in the Frontline trenches then depending on the severity of the injury they stranded a chance of survival but there was little chance for survival for those who were shot down in the charge across No Man's Land because they w...

Probably the most remembered  war poet of all time, Wilfred Owen is known for being the man behind the memorable poems such as: The Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum dest and  To Eros. Sadly, Owen was killed in action exactly one week (and nearly to the hour) before the end of the First World War, in France aged only 25 years old.  Wilfred Edward Salter Owen's was born on 18th March 1893 to Thomas and Harriet Susan Owen in Shropshire. Owen was the eldest of four siblings- Harold, Collin, Mary and Millard. Harriet Susan had high hopes for her eldest son and was extremely proud of him. As a young child Owen lived with his parents in a house owned by his maternal mother's father- Edward Shaw, but after Mr. Shaw's death in 1897, the house was put up for sale and the Owens faced an economic crisis. The family moved to the back streets of Birkenhead where Thomas (Tom) Owens had a temporary job, working for the local station. Thomas was then transferred to Shrewsb...