Quotes

Photos © Ray Mentzer gwpda.org

"You didn't have time to be frightened"

"The trenches were a lot closer than people imagine, I have been near enough to an enemy to snatch his rifle away"

"I'm glad I wasn't a tall bloke, they always seemed to get it first"

"I have never seen so many dead in all my life, there was a slope at the bottom and they called it Death Valley" (Vimy Ridge)

"We were lucky to get any food at all, the blokes who were supposed to send it up often pinched it"

"There were no celebrations - there was nothing to celebrate" (Declaration of Armistice)

"They said there would be bands playing but when we got to Southampton there wasn't a soul, not even a porter" (Homecoming)

"They gave me a choice of two quid or a demob suit. I had the two quid and went home" (Homecoming)

Quotes taken from "Bedworth Pride" by Mr. G. Watts©

Poem: Lest We Ever Forget

Why do you still march old man,with medals on your chest?
Why do you still grieve old man,for those friends you laid to rest?
Why do your eyes gleam old man,when you hear those bugles blow?
Tell me why you cry old man, about those days so long ago.

I'll tell you why I march young man, with medals on my chest
I'll tell you why I grieve young man, for those I laid to rest,
Through misty fields of gossamer silk come visions of distant times,
When boys of tender age lost lives, and all their mothers pined;
We buried them in a blanket shroud, their young flesh scorched and blackened,
A communal grave newly gouged in blood stained gorse and bracken,
And you ask me why I march young man, I march to remind you all,
That but for those apple-blossom youths, you'd never have known freedom at all.

author unknown