Something a little different for this blog, last night I attended the World Premier for Exodus: Gods and Kings. I won the tickets for this from Cineworld and my thanks go to them as it was a great night. Leicester Square where the premier was held looked great with the Egyptian columns and torches burning on a crisp winters evening.
As for the film itself, I quite liked it but felt it was lacking something. I nor my Fiance can work out what it actually is missing but we both came out of the film saying it looked fantastic, the acting was great and yet something was missing.
My recommendation would be to go see the film as Ridley Scott has done a good job and the plagues are well depicted. Overall I would probably give Exodus: Gods and Kings an 8/10.
Ridley Scott - Photo: Authors Collection
Cast - Photo: Authors Collection
Ridley Scott and Maria Valverde - Phot: Authors Collection
The installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' at the Tower of London has generated a lot of publicity along with calls for it to be kept. I was lucky to have visited the poppies at the Tower back in September (still very busy but nowhere near the mad rush that was to come). I found the installation very thought provoking and moving. Certainly many of the people around me commented how beautiful it was and yet how tragic as every poppy represented a life lost.
When I got home that evening I decided to check out if there were still spots left to help plant the remaining poppies. As I had left it fairly late the spots were all filled but the organisers had just opened up spots for removing the installation. So today I will be going along for a three hour shift to help remove the installation.
If anything comes from this years remembrance day and commemorations, then it will at least be healthy debate and a better understanding. The media have loved the Tower Poppies as they can write piece after piece either praising or criticising them. This has got people talking about the role and style of remembrance which is only a good thing.
On a final brief note there is a petition regarding the funding of the Imperial War Museum and planned closure of its Library and study center.
Please take a moment to check out and sign the petition. Petion is Here
This weekend saw the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Mons. I was fortunate enough during the summer of 2012 to go on an in depth recce of not only Mons but also the route of the subsequent retreat. When people remember the Great War it tends to be 1916 onwards (with perhaps the exception of the battle of Loos). I found the recce to be fascinating as we covered such a large distance and such a varied set of engagements, from infantry battles to cavalry clashes to large engagements such as Le Cateau.
Plaque at Nimy Bridge (Authors Collection)
The plaque above is from the location just under Nimy Bridge where Lieutenant Dease and Private Godley won their Victoria Crosses. While these were the first of the war they would not be the last to be earned on the retreat that began after the Battle of Mons (only one day later Captain Grenfell would earn his during the action at Audregnies and Captain Bradbury would earn his during the engagement at Nery).
Mons saw the much smaller BEF come into contact with the German 1st Army, that the BEF were able to put up a fight and extricate themselves shows the professionalism of the regulars and reservists.
The grave of Lieutenant Dease at St Symphorien (Authors Collection)
Lieutenant Dease is buried at St Symphorien which is a remarkable Commonwealth War graves Cemetery. Behind German lines for the vast majority of the war, it is laid out in a very different manor. It also features the first and last BEF and Canadian casualties of the War.
Private Godley survived the action at Mons, was taken prisoner and survived the war being present with his Victoria Cross by the King in 1919.
Yesterday and today has seen a vast amount of media coverage devoted to the beheading of American Journalist James Foley and the alleged British element of ISIS. While this was indeed shocking is hardly a surprise. After all ISIS or IS has become renowned for their brutal methods and acts.
It is the message regarding nationality which is getting the air time and the talk of extremists returning home to carry out further outrages. While this is a natural concern and one that is very real, it remains to be seen if there will be a new direction from ISIS or if they will inspire more home grown elements. Certainly action by local elements against ISIS forces will keep ISIS focused on the Levant and while this might provide a training ground and actual experience of combat to extremists, it also means that they have to be seen to achieve success if they wish to maintain credibility.
The Royal United Services Institute have published a number of interesting articles related to ISIS and the the issues at hand over the last few days. Here is an article that I was reading earlier very concise and to the point but it is a point well made.
The use of US airpower will increase as a result of this murder and the ante has been upped. It is doubtful if you will see combat troops once again deployed on Iraqi soil but with US airpower bolstering Kurdish forces and hopefully Iraqi military forces ISIS might be pushed back and either destroyed as a credible threat/alternative (which ever way you view it, this would seem unlikely given the nature of the organisation) or diminished to the point where they present a threat but one that is managable by regional elements.
I managed to finish "Death to The French" by C.S Forester on my lunch break today. I thought that a quick review would make a nice and short post.
It was a very quick book to read and a good size for a lunch time read. You can certainly see parallels with Bernard Cornwall's "Sharpe" novels and this is more than just sharing the same coloured jacket. I would however suggest that the main protagonist Matthew Dodd is more amusing than Richard Sharpe. They both share a strong sense of duty and honour and they both perhaps have more than their fair share of close calls.
The pace of the book is good and always keeps moving along. This is even the case where the view point switiches between Dodd's view and the main French protagonist Sergeant Godinot. The author occasionally makes a modern reference to something a character does and at first I found this a little distracting. However I warmed to these little asides as I went on.
Overall I would give this an 8 out of 10 and certainly recommend this to anyone who likes the Sharpe series of novels or a good adventure.
So it turns out that moving house and job in the same month followed by a holiday is really not good or productive to maintaining a blog.
Have no fear I plan to get back to regular updates and to try and keep them relevant and interesting. Naturally there will be plenty of Great War posts along with some Operation Market Garden posts with the upcoming 70th Anniversary.
First blog post of 2014 and after some thought it became
obvious to me what the subject would be.
As many people will have seen Michael Gove entered the
embattled conflict for the nature and purpose of the First World War
Commemorations.
Michael Gove has managed to get quite a debate going on the
cause of the conflict and who was to blame. The debate has been wide ranging
and very interesting covering so many aspects of the final years and months
leading up to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. Insults have been hurled and
battle lines drawn leading to a feel of the Left vs the Right for the heart and
soul of the commemorations.
Michael Gove took a swipe and the Blackadder Caricatures
that are prevalent when it comes to general knowledge of the First World War
and British involvement. This has drawn in not only Baldrick (Tony Robinson)
himself but Boris Johnson and a host of academics. In many ways I agree with
Michael Gove to a certain extent, although left wing propaganda is perhaps a
tad harsh and antagonistic. I really enjoy Blackadder goes forth and have
watched it many a time and chuckled at the same scenes time and again just like
many other people. However, I remember Blackadder being used at school and also
by a rather clueless college teacher as a teaching aide about the First World
War. Yet the views that Blackadder presented were not challenged or expanded
upon to give a rounded picture.
This is where the real danger lies for the public
understanding British involvement in the First World War. Without knowledge
from the teachers to point out and separate fact from fiction we will regress
back down the tired path of Lions led by Donkeys and war poets being the voice
of history.
BBC News featured a very interesting piece featuring
Professor Gary Sheffield and a London based German TV presenter discussing the
differences between British and German approaches to the First World War.
Professor Sheffield came across very well and made a very good argument as to
why we need to challenge perceptions of lions led by donkeys and why the First
World War anniversary is such an important event to the British public.
The centenary represents a real chance to remember the
sacrifices of all involved, regardless of blame for starting the war and also a
chance to engage another generation of future historians. If by 2018 there is a
better understanding of the First World War, how it was fought and why it was
fought then I think it will have been worth all of the fuss.
