FOLK

[Dave]

Jackman in

[Lurgan Lad]

Time to go FOLK

[Dave]

Be can blame Lele now.

[Cockatrice]

I remember when Glasgow were shyte but along came Townsend and turned them into a side well worth watching and one that can win games and competitions... Lam did the same with the Westies.. christ even Edinburgh are playing a type of rugby that makes Ulster look like an AIB side... there must be something in getting a half decent coach one that doesn't constantly top world wide searches..

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

[UlsterNo9]

He looks absolutely gormless in every photo

[Pablo]

Gormless, demotivating, crap baseball cap wearing distributor of manual semen production.

[Dave]

[BaggyTrousers]

.... he had the 1914 star for those who were actually there "under fire" in 1914 at Mons & Ypres. Christ knows what he saw there.

Baggy - ye may already know this about the 1914 Star (actually the 1914-15 star).

It was instituted in Dec 1918 and was awarded to any officer or serviceman who fought against the Central powers in any theatre of war in 1914 and/or 1915, i.e. before the introduction of the Military Service Act, bringing in conscription in 1916.

In other words, It was awarded to volunteers only.

It was always awarded with The British War Medal (1914-20) and the Victory Medal (1914-19) (i.e. Pip, Squeak & Wilfred)

My grandfather would have been kicking around France around the same time as yours. He joined up at the start of hostilities - had to try twice, because he wasn't much more than a nipper and didn't look his age, so they wouldn't believe he was old enough first time.

Anyway, at the second attempt, he got in and was almost immediately threatened with Court Martial for disobeying an order. That order was to report to an infantry battalion. My granda refused, saying he had joined up to save life, not take it. After a barney, he was assigned to the Royal Army Medical Corps.

He went over the top at the Somme and suffered blast damage to his lungs, and later at Ypres was gassed but survived with more lung damage. He survived the war and worked in the ship-yard until he died a premature death having suffered from lung complaints all his adult life.

He almost certainly wasn't a "hero" in the sense that many see our war legends, but I'm very proud to be of his loins, even though I never met him. He died before I was born.

I had another great uncle who served in WW2 who was always described by older family members as a hero who escaped from POW camp and had a successful "home-run". I was always in awe of him, although again I never met him as after the war he settled in London.

I can say I was not a little disappointed when I found out the details of his wartime exploits. Apparently was taken prisoner in the first few days of the war, spent the following 6 years (almost) in POW camp and as the war drew to a conclusion, he "escaped" from POW camp when it was abandoned by the Germans as the Soviets approached. He simply walked out of camp when the guards had gone and dandered about half a mile up the road, to greet the Red Army. He was eventually repatriated to Engerland to complete his "home-run".

Not the most epic of escape stories and derring-do, but a good one nonetheless, if one isn't aware of the finer detail!

[color=#FF0000]EDIT: I note now that there was a 1914 Star, which was similar to the 1914-15 star but with a much more limited service period - also sometimes known as the Mons Star. Both of these were also known as Pip. Everyday's a school day.

[/color]


I could have saved you the trouble of incorrectly correcting me Grumps. The Mons Star as it was known covers both the 1914 & the 1914-15 star I believe but only 365000 approx of the 1914 Star were given to those who had been "under fire" between August & December 1914. The much more widely distributed 1914-15 star was no "guarantee" that you had been in battle, though of course, I'd assume the vast majority were. Further, many soldiers qualified for both but only one medal, the 1914 taking precedence, was issued. Pte. Morrison qualified for both though semi-interestingly in different regiments, 1914 R. Irish Rifles, 1914-15 The Black Watch. I've pondered if his regiment was so decimated that he was shuffled over to Black Watch. He had been in Scottish regiments as a regular, so obviously having qualified for both, you are incorrect in saying it was for volunteers.

Having had his medals for years, I finally decided to check things out recently and got a copy of his medal cards (citations) from the National Archive. He qualified on 31st August 1914, but I assume that was simply when it was written up, for the scrap started on 5th August and he was there as were almost the entire regular strength of the army.

Anyway, he was clearly proud of his service and medals for "The Star" in particular is so polished that the writing on the scroll over the crossed swords is almost unreadable, but is 1914, the others are comparatively pristine.

Odd to think our grandfathers were probably huddled in a trench in bloody awful conditions 100 years ago.

[truthandjusticedotcom]

This would be an excellent day for Les Kiss to do the decent thing and resign.