My grandfather and I are the only veterans in our immediate family. He was #38 of the First Five Hundred who joined the Newfoundland Regiment in 1914. In 1918, he published his diary in a local magazine.
He provided details of his training in England and Egypt as well as his time in Gallipoli, the Somme and Ypres. As a modern day veteran reading this, I am astounded at how much has changed, and at the same time, how much has stayed the same.
In light of Remembrance Day, here are some prophetic words taken from my grandfather’s diary as published in the Colonial Commerce Magazine, Vol XXVIL – No 6 May 31st 1918:
“Dante’s Inferno of Hell is but a spark in comparison to the inferno Kaiserism has created on the battle ground of the nations. And I have often wondered if God in His Heaven has never felt sorry for giving man a brain to invent such ingenious and fiendish instruments and methods of destruction as used and practiced in this war of wars. I have seen men burned with liquid fire and I have seen men turn purple from inhaling the treacherous gas; others I have seen blind and maimed, carrying with them terrible scars, unsightly and awful. And all this to satisfy the unnatural dreams of a Super Satan who ruled the destinies of a once Germanic Empire. But right must conquer might, and there’s a day to come when he and his dupes will have to foot the Bill.”
Change a few words and it can apply to 2013 as easily as it applied to 1918.
Lest We Forget.
You also share your ability to write beautifully!
Thanks Annamarie! 🙂