The Army Commander wishes everybody "Good Luck". War diary of British 29th Infantry Division first thing in the morning on 1st July 1916. Fourth Army casualties that day would reach nearly 58,000, of whom over 19,000 were dead. Requiescat in pace.

29th Division's report of their troop availability for the 1/7/1916 assault on the Beaumont-Hamel front. The last two columns show the number of officers & OR's who attacked, & the resulting casualties. "Dulce et Decorum est", Horace's line which Wilfred Owen post war called "the old Lie".

Interesting note in 29th Infantry Division's report of their actions on 1st July 1916 opposite Beaumont-Hamel. This ploy by British officers developed early during WW1 & was very common. Officers were obviously priority targets for enemy snipers (etc) & this ruse seems not to have been discouraged.

BBC evening TV news today - interviewer asks Trump what current situation is - "The Ukraine war with Russia should never have happened" & Ukraine has shown "no gratitude" to the USA. (The UKRAIN WAR WITH RUSSIA🥴). Hope the other NATO nations are dusting off their nukes🥴

A Q has been raised ref Geoffrey Malins' film of 1/7/1916 at Sunken Lane, Beaumont-Hamel, & who actually appears. 2nd photo is generally accepted as 1st Bn Lancashire Fusiliers, but the 1st photo (colourised) appears to be a trench mortar battery. Is this 86th TMB (who supported 1st Lancs Fus).

A bit of an enigma; 2nd Lt Samuel MacDonnell Campbell recorded by cwgc as 13th Bn Lancs. Fusiliers att'd 86th Trench Mortar Battery, KiA 1/7/16. Researched for a future vol of zerohourzday.com he was actually 1st Bn att'd 86th TMB & was killed attacking from "White City" towards the German >cont>

Ukraine is on the brink of an historic betrayal by Trump to Putin. Keir Starmer must bring our European allies together to back Zelensky, starting by seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.

Lt Alfred Valentine Davies, 2nd Bn Lancs. Fusiliers researched for a future vol of zerohourzday.com Came to me as MiA 1/7/16, but was in fact Pow, as the German record below shows. Alfred made the usual statement about the circumstances of his capture, but this time the War Office had >cont>

And as a bonus you'll find my name early in the acknowledgements😇 Helping out with some of the research for the ZZ series has taken me (& continues to take me) down some interesting avenues👍

And as a bonus you'll find my name early in the acknowledgements

Geoffrey Grenside Bowen applied for commission when WW1 broke out, & his "Application for 1st Appointment" 6/8/14 makes for interesting (& optimistic) reading🤔 He was posted to 2nd Bn Lancashire Fusiliers & was badly wounded 1/7/16 near Serre, a bullet through his groin exiting through his >cont>

Did anybody else who watched the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall this year notice that RBL's new "all paper" poppies were almost impossible to spot ? This is what happens when "good / laudable ideas" overpower common-sense. EBay vendors = 1, RBL = 0😒

That Shabana Mahmood is an utter disgrace, what with her wanting to expel all those doctors, veterinarians, nurses & engineers who have had to flee torture (etc) in barbaric France in rubber dinghies. Hopefully her backbenchers will give her a real hammering👍

Upton Wood Cemetery, yesterday. A "simple" design by GH Goldsmith. Row upon row upon row of Canadian soldiers from August & September 1918, from a time & area where the Canadian Corps contributed greatly to ending WW1, at great cost. Note that the entrance faces the wood, not the access lane.

Was driving through Bullecourt yesterday & the car deviated to the right towards the Australian "Digger" Memorial😂 - crowded with kids from l'Ecole de Bullecourt being told about the war at a series of small displays. Very impressed to see this, but a bit intrigued by the aviation table which >cont>

German frontline Somme trench which was attacked 1st July 1916 but not taken till later that year.

The WW1 Pipers Memorial, Longueval, 11/11/2025. (& across the road, some signage).

New Zealand & Footballer's Memorials, Flers Church, 11th November 2025.

Davie & Turner resignations at UK BBC - thank God - dirty lying communists. Now please clear out the rest of the ultra-left Gt Britain destroyers in that Soviet institution.

It's actually a WW1 epitaph proposed for IWGC cemeteries which was adopted post WW2 for Kohima.

You won't see this again in Gt Britain. Our country - our ancestor's country - has been utterly basterdised. The UK isn't the country I was born into, & it certainly isn't the country my parents or grandparents were born into. And ALL EXCEPT the merchant bankers know why.

Is this true ???????????????????????? If it is, then F*CK America. Is it true ??????????????????

Just seen a documentary on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) America, a public non-commercial broadcaster, maybe equivalent to the UK's BBC. "America's Great War 1917-1918". Apparently US WW1 soldiers were called "Sams", & came to Europe to help out the "French & English" soldiers🫢

Was in TNA earlier this week finishing off some work for a future vol of zerohourzday.com & knowing I'd probably have some spare time ordered a WW1 officer's file I might be interested in. You will know him as "Bruce" but he was actually Charles Bruce Bairnsfather. First thing I hadn't >cont>

The European Convention on Human Rights (1950, as amended) was an extremely important & laudable piece of legislation enacted in order to prevent any repetition of Germany's activities during the 1930's & 40's. Some clauses are now being misused to allow activities which are illegal & wholly >cont>

It is impossible to read the King's statement about his pervert brother today as meaning anything other than the King believing that the ex Duke is guilty of the claims made against him, - much as the claims that @cwgc are lying about the identity of "unknowns" buried at Cabaret Rouge BC are true👍

I'm looking at some of the more obscure material at TNA Kew which was used when the Official History volume for the 1916 Battle of The Somme was being prepared. The extract below ranges wider than that, but makes a VERY interesting point about predetermined tasks for reserve troops de facto >cont>

The Cedric Charles Dickens memorial near "Lousy Wood" earlier today, - or should it now be called the "what the dickens" memorial😲 What would the lads have made of those monsters ? (Cedric's body wasn't there of course, post-war excavations proved that).

My present temporary assistant (imaginatively called "Mog") is not actually contributing much to current tasks. In fact having had his 3rd meal of the day he's resigned his position & gone for a stroll😲

Rededication service for CSM Reginald C Rogers MM, Royal Marine Light Infantry, Serre Road Cemetery No2 today.

I don't have access to my copy of "Rat's Alley" at the moment so can anybody place "26th Avenue" for me. It's probably N of Martinpuich circa Sept - Oct 1916.

Australian 2nd Division Memorial, the Pozieres windmill position, today. In less than 7 weeks fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm, three AIF divisions (1st, 2nd, & 4th) suffered 23,000 casualties. Of these, 6800 were killed or died of wounds.

Two of those 1/5th North Staffs men have been identified (by different researchers, 10 years apart) as being buried in Cabaret Rouge BC. The first submission to cwgc WAS DISGRACEFULLY MISHANDLED by them - on the same day denying that they'd received the case (almost 3 months before) at >cont>

Two men of 1/5th North Staffs KiA 13/10/1915 & buried approximately as marked below were exhumed post-war & reburied in Cabaret Rouge BC. VERY SOLID cases proving the ID of both men were submitted to cwgc almost 10 years apart, & rejected FOR ENTIRELY SPURIOUS "reasons". So much for "remembrance".

War correspondent Alan Wood: "If in years to come any man says to you 'I fought at Arnhem', take off your hat to him and buy him a drink, for this is the stuff for which England's greatness is made".

Horton cemetery is very close to my house. What was called the Horton Hospital Group was a collection of five former psychiatric hospitals, often called the "Epsom Cluster". Used as military hospitals in WW1 they were still psychiatric hospitals when I was at secondary school nearby & could >cont>

Does anybody have a copy of commonwealth war graves commission "Directive No 51" ? (I'm afraid I don't know it's date). It concerns the way in which certain ranks are to be spelt. I had a copy about ten years ago but cannot now find it, & cannot see it in cwgc's archive database.

Gordon Cemetery, Mametz, a few days ago. These nice chaps (who said hello & exited the cemetery as I approached) confirmed that they were in the process of "nettoyage". I "think" they were to clean the cross with sponge & water, but they showed me the pot of special bronze cleaner for the >cont>

So Stammerer condemns the Manchester murders. The same Stammerer who is allowing our country to be flooded with undocumented, unvetted, Muslim males who will contribute nothing but negativity to our society, who hate us, & only want to kill us. You sympathise with this ? - shame on you😒

Some tidying-up going on at the Hawthorne craters a couple of days ago. Nice view down to White City, sunken lane, etc. (Take nothing but memories, & leave nothing but footprints👍). ... British packaging😒

51st Div Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel, today. Plaque has gone !

Visited Guards Grave at Villers-Cotterets today(*). Those who know it will be aware that its a very early 1914 cemetery SW of Soissons & a very long way from any other IWGC cemetery. Its VERY difficult to find as its 4ft from a main road & has a bl**dy great Cross of Sacrifice which obviously >cont>

Well it would be impolite not to support the Somme economy(ies)👍😇

This evening I photographed a headstone of interest in A.I.F. Burial Ground, Grass Lane. A big cemetery; 3,647 burials, very close to the 1916-17 winter front lines. Generic cwgc "new black spot" notice cable tied to gate. A PRECISE technical explanation would be better, - we aren't thick😒

EMail from TNA Kew today. (On the bright side, they haven't sent me links to the 154,542 [really] references to "Easter" in "Discovery👍).

Does anybody know of a "Liverpool Pals" (17, 18, 19, & 20th Bns KLR) headstone on the Western Front for an UNKNOWN soldier which has the pals badge on it ?

Ref recent cwgc webinar, - Jon Gedling - use of bleaching agents is "restricted" in Belgium. "Restricted. Adjective. Limited in extent, number, scope, or action." Not forbidden then🤔

My Bluesky Social homepage is not showing any "follow" recommendations. Searching the www I see that I should start by clicking on the "Discover" tab. WTF is the "Discover" tab😒

2nd Lt Frank Austin Brettell, 1/8th Bn R.Warwickshire Regt, was wounded & taken PoW 1/7/16 near the Quadrilateral (between Serre and Redan Ridge). Researched for a future vol of zerohourzday.com I can find no officer's service record for him (I'd be delighted to be contradicted), which is >cont>

Anybody familiar with Canadian WW1 personnel records ? I've a British Officer who's a bit "troublesome" in terms of WO records, but looking at his (two😲) medal index cards it turns out he came over as a Canadian infantry private. If can give advice then please DM.