It’s still here….
I’m finally home!
I’m finally home!
Le Mans to Berlin and a bit beyond
- Thread starter Wapping
- Start date
A bit late to the party but (and not wishing to hijack / squat) inspired by Monsieur Wapping, I saw a sign for a German cemetery whilst cycling around in France and thought I would visit. Very different to the Commonwealth sites and located behind a village church.
Access to German cemetery was through a very colourful and decorated cemetery for, I guess, the locals. Quite a contrast to the German area where there were no flags, no flowers, no "celebration", if you know what I mean.
Certainly worth the detour.
Access to German cemetery was through a very colourful and decorated cemetery for, I guess, the locals. Quite a contrast to the German area where there were no flags, no flowers, no "celebration", if you know what I mean.
Certainly worth the detour.
Thank you.
Whilst the Commonwealth War Graves take an almost universal style, the German cemeteries do vary between the First and Second World Wars and in design and layout.
I do always wonder for how long the cemeteries will stay as they are. There is certainly nobody alive today who fought in the Great War, nor indeed anyone born between 1914 and 1918. Time is calling for those left who can even remember the Second World War. Nothing lasts forever. At some future point - certainly not within our lifetimes - nature will take back the land, which (I guess) is somehow appropriate.
As a complete aside, I do want to visit all of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries, where nature does (in part at least) reclaim the area. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. I have done one (Stoke Newington) so, six to go.
PS The grave of the Jewish Sondermann, killed almost to the day in 1917, is poignant. Whilst we will probably never know, any family that he might have had would (in all probability) have been murdered within 30 years of his death.
Whilst the Commonwealth War Graves take an almost universal style, the German cemeteries do vary between the First and Second World Wars and in design and layout.
I do always wonder for how long the cemeteries will stay as they are. There is certainly nobody alive today who fought in the Great War, nor indeed anyone born between 1914 and 1918. Time is calling for those left who can even remember the Second World War. Nothing lasts forever. At some future point - certainly not within our lifetimes - nature will take back the land, which (I guess) is somehow appropriate.
As a complete aside, I do want to visit all of London’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ cemeteries, where nature does (in part at least) reclaim the area. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. I have done one (Stoke Newington) so, six to go.
PS The grave of the Jewish Sondermann, killed almost to the day in 1917, is poignant. Whilst we will probably never know, any family that he might have had would (in all probability) have been murdered within 30 years of his death.
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Loosely in common with this thread I know but a good friend in Australia sent me these pics today. He is the workshop manager at a place in Brisbane that work on pre 2000 Benz’s primarily but have a good reputation for their work on classics so they get some interesting stuff come in.
This replica of Jaguar prototype car built for the 1966 Le Mans 24hr but never raced due to regulation changes has just sold for AUS$600k & is on its way to Mexico soon.
This replica of Jaguar prototype car built for the 1966 Le Mans 24hr but never raced due to regulation changes has just sold for AUS$600k & is on its way to Mexico soon.
I finally plonked myself down for a couple of hours to get caught up on this trip report. Thank you for taking the time to to post the photos and write it all up. Very entertaining and informative. 
Thank you.
It’s quite fun - and useful - doing a report, not least as it’s as good a reminder to me of what I did, as well as (hopefully) some interest and maybe inspiration to others.
It’s quite fun - and useful - doing a report, not least as it’s as good a reminder to me of what I did, as well as (hopefully) some interest and maybe inspiration to others.
Well, that helped pass by a Friday evening with some entertainment, education and fun, thank you.
One of the more interesting evenings in my life, was sitting with a 94 year old Belarusian woman and her family, while she told the story of the German invasion of Belarus and the occupation of her village. Few survived the occupation or the blood letting that went on afterwards. It’s an incredibly dark period of history, more disturbing in that there are still a few for whom it’s in living memory. She shed a tear seven decades later in the re-telling.
I may have missed it, but I hope the mother of your children is ok and is making a recovery.
One of the more interesting evenings in my life, was sitting with a 94 year old Belarusian woman and her family, while she told the story of the German invasion of Belarus and the occupation of her village. Few survived the occupation or the blood letting that went on afterwards. It’s an incredibly dark period of history, more disturbing in that there are still a few for whom it’s in living memory. She shed a tear seven decades later in the re-telling.
I may have missed it, but I hope the mother of your children is ok and is making a recovery.
Thank you for the kind comments.
I’m afraid she’ll be in care for some time yet.
The good news (of a sort) is that she can now at least comprehend that she’s had a stroke, and can understand that her left side (though paralysed) is actually part of her and not some all but alien being. The other good news is that the Court of Protection (whilst acknowledging that she needs ongoing care and support) adjudged her mentally fit enough to sign the Health and Wealth powers of attorney, naming my daughter. That speeds that process at least.
It’s been very hard on my daughter for the past now nearly three months, juggling a baby of under a year old and a mother in hospital for near enough two months and now in a home for the past month or more, My son-in-law has been very patient throughout, which is a big help.
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It's an incredibly difficult time for everyone involved, I'm sure, having been there several years ago and I can only wish everyone good fortune over the coming weeks and months.
Thank you.
We all, one way or another, walk a tightrope of sorts. If there is one lesson to be drawn out of it:
A. Make a will.
B. Line up your lasting powers of attorney, health and wealth.
Do both before it’s too late.
We all, one way or another, walk a tightrope of sorts. If there is one lesson to be drawn out of it:
A. Make a will.
B. Line up your lasting powers of attorney, health and wealth.
Do both before it’s too late.
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