View Full Version : Petition to save Hill 60 at Ypres
Found this on another forum, although not aviation I thought it may be of interest
Petition Script PHP (http://www.savehill60.org/phpPETITION/index.php)
foldingwings
2nd Jan 2010, 15:19
Done. Given the other thread running here this is perfectly appropriate. Hill 60 played a significant battle in the campaign in The Salient. The thought of it being bulldozed to make way for housing is appalling. It was created from the spall from the railway line that runs beneath it and the main German bunker that still exists there had to be modified by the Allies when the hill was eventually taken so that the entrance door was now not facing the enemy!
Foldie
Discorde
2nd Jan 2010, 16:02
A film about Hill 60 has just been completed in Oz and is scheduled for release in the spring. Details: BENEATH HILL 60 - a WWI feature film - Captain Woodward MC - WW1 Tunnelers (http://www.beneathhill60.com.au/)
Signed.
Grand Father was on the Somme. Never spoke about it to his wife or his 6 children or many grandchidren.
Cron.
polyglory
3rd Jan 2010, 02:38
Signed,
Agree with the other comments.
Lest We Forget
sunnybunny
3rd Jan 2010, 07:45
Signed.
My father was wounded at Gallipoli, my mother said he would never talk about it. The only reason she knew was because he had a scar from a turkish bayonet on his chest.
good spark
3rd Jan 2010, 08:18
signed
many thanks for finding and posting the link timex
ArthurR
3rd Jan 2010, 08:24
Signed
Both my Grandfathers took part in that little PARTY
lurkio
3rd Jan 2010, 10:37
Done, didn't know anyone involved but doesn't mean we should not care.
DeeJayEss
3rd Jan 2010, 11:05
Blood oath. Every pom, aussie, kiwi, or any other allied nation that has ANYTHING to do that is even remotely associated with Ypres should sign this petition. Good show.
tarantonight
3rd Jan 2010, 13:42
A good Thread, the more we get the better. Suprised the Belgians are suggesting this, have to say.
TN.
Sl4yer
3rd Jan 2010, 21:19
As I sit here and look at my Great Grandfather's WW1 medals, I'm delighted to sign. As said above, Lest We Forget.
tezzer
4th Jan 2010, 06:57
Done !
Just come back from my first visit to the Somme. All I can say is wow.
We only had 3 days or so to explore, in expert hands, but the things we saw, and heard were So moving. From the ever present Iron Harvest from the fields, to the mass graves, and the memorial to those still missing. We stood out in a preserved section of the trenches, close to the Newfoundland memorial, it was bitterly cold, with an icy blast cutting straight through. We tried oh so hard to imagine what it must have been like to stand there in all of the carnage, for weeks at a time. Intersting snippets supplied by our host included the fact that a lot of the casualties lay in the fields from June to November, before their remains were recovered, imagine that, and that 80% of the German casualties were never recovered, so a lot of the artefacts (of the human type) are now German. Over a 3 day period 1,750,000 rounds were fired. He talks now about finding boots by the edge of the fields where the farmers put them, and toes (or at least toe bones) tumbling out. It was such an eye opener to see just how many people died, and terribly moving.
The ploughs have cleared most of the debris from the top 9 inches or so of the fields, but dig any deeper and you are still into the carpet of human, horse and military material on a huge scale. When Copper prices rose a couple of years ago, the fields were full of families collecting the shell cases to be melted down.
The lasting memory is just the scale of the destruction, I had absolutyely no idea until this week, highly reccomended, and I'll be back for a more detailed look, when it gets a bit warmer.
sled dog
4th Jan 2010, 10:32
Gladly signed. Both Grandfathers were there, one is laying in peace near Bethune, killed July 1918. The other brought me up during WW2 as my Dad was serving in the Royal Artillery. The WW1 medal of the Grandfather that survived is my proudest possesion. like many of his comrades he hardly ever spoke of what he endured. Brave men all.
Geehovah
4th Jan 2010, 20:15
Signed
It would be a travesty if it was lost
Bruce Wayne
4th Jan 2010, 21:17
thanks for the heads up..
signed
frostbite
4th Jan 2010, 21:48
Signed.
But where does it get the 'location' from? It shows me in Germany!
alisoncc
4th Jan 2010, 21:58
Signed here.
Location comes from your IP Address - address of your internet server you connected from. Not always very accurate as some IP addresses are registered as being at the head office of an ISP which may not be where a user is located. Plus ISP's like AOL use proxy servers in different countries to their users.
TBM-Legend
4th Jan 2010, 22:19
I signed.
Lest We Forget
Wizzard
5th Jan 2010, 10:20
Bumpety bump!
Signed on other means.
critter592
5th Jan 2010, 10:45
Duly signed. Thanks for the heads-up.
outhouse
5th Jan 2010, 12:01
Sunnybunny.
My grandfather was transferred into the Australian Light Horse just before the start of the Gallipoli campaign from a British Infantry Battalion the Buffs, he joined then in Egypt directly from France. He discovered the complications of horse riding and how to manage camel riding and carrying his rather bulky machine gun. He went with them to Gallipoli and left with his Australian friends in one of the last transports off the beach. He was ordered to return to his British unit but refused and stayed with his Australian colleagues and went with them to France for the so called final push.
After his death I found a box it contained a Military Medal inscribed from the Australian authorities and the citation. He also kept a diary and the reading was beyond belief. In the box was a letter written in Arabic? The diary indicated that he had taken it off a dead Turkish officer that he and his chaps had killed during a skirmish. Many years later I had a friend translate it. It was from the offices wife indicating how much he was loved and how she was looking forward to his safe return home also saying how his children were looking forward to him returning home. I sent the letter and the oddly Germen Iron cross inscribed to the same officer to the Turkish Embassy in the hope that they could return it to the family.
My grandfather never spoke about the detail of his experiences however would talk fondly about his times with the Australian Light Horse and the men he served with.
Outhouse.
Jabba_TG12
5th Jan 2010, 14:44
Gladly signed.:ok:
Inspector Clueless
5th Jan 2010, 22:17
Done.Brave men-all of them. Cluey:ok:
I have two sets of medals belonging to my Great Grand fathers, the first set to one who was with the Manchester Rifles, sadly I was never old enough or wise enough to ask him about his service days.
The second set belonged to my other GGF who served with the Border Regiment, then because of his background he was moved to the RE for mining under the German lines. When he returned home he had to go and recieve his medals, on returning to the house he threw them straight onto the fire where my Grand father grabbed them out with some tongs. He was told in no uncertain terms that he could keep them but they were never to see the light of day.
Signed.
Wifes Grandfather lies a couple of K's away in Voormezele
Knutsford slf
6th Jan 2010, 15:37
Signed.
We will remember them!
Four Types
8th Jan 2010, 21:49
Signed it and sent it on to like minded individuals. Lest we forget. I did the WW1 tour as a 50th birthday present to myself. Fantastic if not sombre event. My son went as a school trip and it registered with him also. If you have never been to Ypres, the Menin Gate, Sanctuary Wood etc etc then make it one of your things to do.....you will remember it for ever. As for building on Hill 60....someone really needs to rethink that one!
tommee_hawk
19th Jan 2010, 11:45
Like many others, my grandfather fought and survived the carnage as a machine gunner at Ypres - never spoke a word about it. I wish he was alive now to pass on his thoughts.
FYI, Winston Groom (author of Howard Gump) wrote a great book on the Ypres campaign in 2002. It's a very even-handed look at the campaign.
It's called "A Storm in Flanders" and is still available on A*azon and E*bay.
Well worth a read.
Landroger
19th Jan 2010, 15:52
Done. I was there just this Saturday, with four of my Scouts, all very near their fourteenth birthdays. Despite the dreadful weather and the fact we were rapidly running short of the day, they took in all the information from the plaques, then took themselves off up to the memorial at the 'top of the hill'. They were having difficulty getting their minds round fighting underground.
Later that evening, they laid a wreath at the Menin Gate 'Last Post Ceremony' on behalf of our Troop. There were, I was told by an NCO, eight platoons of young soldiers from a training regiment, plus my four! I was very, very proud of them.
Roger.