My Son Jack

[Leah]

Very sad :(

[Lucia]

Quite beautiful, in a heartbreaking way and very apt for Remembrance Day.
I feel that it was very upsetting to modern eyes and in relation to the hindsight of knowing a whole generation of (very) young men died in the madness of the Great War, but I felt it was well contextualised - even if Kipling did (sort of ) stand revealed as a jingoistic fool who yearned for the 'poetry' and glory of war and seemed determined to 'live' it vicariously through his only son.
I was delighted to see Kim Cantrell allowed to display her considerable acting skills, and very moved by the performances of David Radcliffe (who still has a lot to learn, but was well-cast) and Carey Mulligan who was excellent matched Cantrell in highlighting the role of women in those patriarchal times.

I shed a few tears at the end - which instantly dried up when Graham quipped, "D'you think Kipling took up baking cakes to help himself get over it?"

[Leah]

Quite beautiful, in a heartbreaking way and very apt for Remembrance Day.
I feel that it was very upsetting to modern eyes and in relation to the hindsight of knowing a whole generation of (very) young men died in the madness of the Great War, but I felt it was well contextualised - even if Kipling did (sort of ) stand revealed as a jingoistic fool who yearned for the 'poetry' and glory of war and seemed determined to 'live' it vicariously through his only son.
I was delighted to see Kim Cantrell allowed to display her considerable acting skills, and very moved by the performances of David Radcliffe (who still has a lot to learn, but was well-cast) and Carey Mulligan who was excellent matched Cantrell in highlighting the role of women in those patriarchal times.

I shed a few tears at the end - which instantly dried up when Graham quipped, "D'you think Kipling took up baking cakes to help himself get over it?"

It was the determined restraint of the grief that got to me, such quiet despair. I thought little Radcliffe was very good, and uncannily like the photos I've seen of Kipling sr, The numbers they discussed [safely at home] that constituted a success, 8000 dead for 2000 yds of territory, :(

[Kalikareem]

I was given a silver spur at our wedding by my father in law...Years later It was brought up in conversation and I asked who it belonged to...He said that it was my husbands Great Great Uncles who was in the Cavelry,It is very emotional to know that he wore that into battle and was killed for his country...There is a number on the side and one of the leather straps is missing.It is on my cabinet,with pride of place....

[bev]

We watched it here too. Did you know Kipling also lost a young daughter to TB (I think). She was the one who inspired him to call the book Just So Stories, because when asked she would say she liked the stories just so.

How terrible to lose two children

[pgreen3108]

yes we wached it to and thought it very sad,him and his sister were left in england while the mom and dad went back to india, and he was abused, so thats probley why he was like he was, very sad story indeed.

[Carole]

I recorded it but haven't seen it because the OH wanted to see the Driving Instructor thing on the other.

I've done quite a lot of genealogical research on WW1. Most of the records of the British soldiers were lost in the second war, but the records of the Australians are nearly all available free to view online (Australians are hugely more proud of their soldiers than we are) and they are absolutely heartbreaking to read. You don't realise how many died of "silly" things like measles (no vaccination and country boys hadn't built up childhood immunity to them).

Apart form all the awful medical records, the files contain correspondance from relatives. You don't realise the massive logistical administration that went on befind the scenes - after someone died their belongings had to be parceled up and sent home, which to Australia meant sending all these parcels by ship and informing the relatives on which ship they were expected.
One of the most awful things I read was this. oh so polite, letter enquiring if someone could find her husband's razor, as it wasn't in the parcel she had recieved - cigarette case, bible, pocket book, pen letters - no razor ... it was just so patheic.

.... and it was an utterly pointeless war - all those widowed mothers who had lost a son, wives left with small children, sisters left to send back forms to say they had recieved their dead brother's war medals .... :(

Carole

[TinaB]

I have been watching a lot of the history programmes and have just watched a documentry on the trenches at Flanders... such a pointless pointless war of battling for a couple of hundred yards :(

a lot of the men had to have their legs amputated due to foot rot as well... if they dared look over the edge of the trenches they got a bullet through the brains for their trouble... a lot of young men died like that, they did not know they were going to war to only sit in trenches, they wondered where the war was, popped heads up to have a look then *bang* it was all over for them...

apparently around 400 men died everyday....

[Needleworker]

I am afraid that I can not watch things like that at the moment as it makes me sob my heart out. My maternal Grandma's first husband died in WW1 saving his officer. Very strange to think that if he had not died Mum and I would not be here. So every year I dedicate a cross via the British Legion to his memory................

[Carole]

WW2 was dreadful ( both the OH's grandparents died in it) but there seems something particularly terrible about WW1 - I think it was because it really was a needless war, men slaughtered and left maimed for no good reason :(

Carole