~~~~~
Volume
Lochnagar Crater.
Created by 27,000 kilograms of detonated explosives
in the Somme Battlefields, France.
~~~~~
Lochnagar Crater
Cee-BW-Challenge-Signs
~~~~~
Signs which are
self explanatory,
I hope.
I don’t remember taking this shot
and have never before, or since,
laid eyes on this bus.
However, according to my filing system
it was taken in Melbourne.
This was about as far as a DSLR camera could go.
Pocket size cameras and phones
were okay, I believe.
A Tea Room on the
Western Front Battlefields
of France.
.
Self explanatory?
All day we were hearing about Whistler
and all day I was thinking
‘…I’ve heard that name before…’
However, only made the connection upon arrival.
Fun fact.
We were told that recent summer sports had
overtaken, economically, winter sports
on/at Whistler.
~~~~~
Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Signs
~~~~~
Word-of-Day-Challenge-Tear
~~~~~
tear
a hole or split in something caused by it
having been pulled apart forcefully.
This hole in the ground,
known as Lochnagar Crater,
was created after British soldiers
detonated 27,000 tons of explosives
under German lines during
World War I.
The force created a tear in the ground
measuring 220 feet (67 metres) diameter
and 450 feet (137 metres) across
Debris from the explosion rose
about 4,000 feet into the air.
~~~~~
Word of the Day Challenge: Tear
FOWChallenge-Tribute
~~~~~““
During my 2017 visit to
The Western Front Battlefields
in France and Belgium…
I came across the
Lochnagar Crater Memorial.
THe crater was created by detonating 27,000 tons
of explosives under the
German Front Line
Surrounding the crater are tributes and memorials
to many men and women who served…
on the Western Front during
the Great War.
The boardwalk around the crater is created by 4 inch planks.
At either end of these planks a small tribute
can be placed to commemorate one’s relatives.
I placed/paid for this tribute to my Grandfather
who served all along the Western Front
after being part of the gun crew
which fired the First Allied Shot of World War I
from Point Nepean at the mouth of
Port Phillip Bay,
Victoria.
The time was 1245, August 5th, 1914…
a mere 2-3 hours after War had been declared in London
at 11 PM the previous night…August 4.
Lest We Forget.
~~~~~
Fandango’s One Word Challenge: Tribute
THURSDAY’S SPECIAL-October-Words-Yr3
~~~~~
Words from all over.
And a bit late for October
I have never seen so much water flowing, or gushing,
over Hopkins Falls as there was in August 2017.
This is what I think of when I see the word aperture.
That little hole in the centre of a lens.
Frontier…a line or border separating two countries.
At Hill 60 in Belgium, the white line in the foreground
indicates the British front line.
Most of our group are in No Man’s Land,
however our tour guide is standing on Germany’s Front line.
Perhaps not triplets in the truest sense of the word,
however, it was the best I could do.
A ‘normal’ tapered building,
Burj Khalifa, in Dubai.
Normally I think of some that is tapered as being thinner
at the far end, usually the top.
Lochnagar Crater, on the Somme Battlefields,
is still thinner at the far end
it just happens to be the bottom
~~~~~
Thursday’s Special: October Words-Yr3
Cee-BW-Challenge-Tables-Chairs
~~~~~
Cee’s
Black and White Challenge.
~~~~~
I shall commence with probably the most unusal tables.
A wool table…right foreground.
No shearing taking place at this time.
Tables of any king was the brief????
Wool bales were often pushed on their side
so they could be used as a table or chair.
The thing which frustrated me most about this practice
was that the user never stood the bale upright after pushing it over.
Outdoor cafe seating in Arras, France.
If you can accept outdoor benches as chairs…
then we have some of Geelong’s
parklands and their tables and chairs.
Seating along
Promenade des Anglais
in Nice, France.
An eight seater, turn of thee century,
solid Tasmanian Blackwood dining table and chairs.
Belonging to MGW’s parents
and valued at $AUD 7000-$AUD 8000 restored, or
$AUD 1,500 – $AUD 1,700 as is.
And no-one showed any interest in it. 😦
The first or one of the few memorials to the Nurses
involved in the Great War.
It can be found at
Lochnagar Crater,
Somme Battlefields
in France
~~~~~
Cees-BW-Photo-Challenge: Tables-Chairs
~~~~~
THURSDAY’S SPECIAL-Best-2017-Picture
Best 2017 Picture
I have several pictures…all for differing reasons.
This was a sunrise at Point Lonsdale Lighthouse.
The sun should have been rising to my right and behind.
In other words I am facing West roughly speaking.
I had packed my tripod and long lens away
and was about to walk back to the car
and breakfast..somewhere…
when this rainbow appeared.
For only two minutes.
Had I not had a back up camera, with a shorter lens,
I would not have been able to capture the few shots I did.
A few months later I ventured over to Melbourne’s St Kilda Pier.
A draw-card for tourists and photographers alike.
I confess to editing this a bit to capture the stormy winter sky.
But I am pleased with the outcome.
In between those two shots was our
wedding anniversary hot air balloon flight
over Melbourne.
I will probably never take this shot again
and it is one I would like to enlarge.
However, I will always remember
our 30th Wedding Anniversary by this shot.
However, the shot I am most pleased with is not one of mine.
Followers may remember that I visited France and Belgium
and spent three days touring
the Western Front Battlefields of World War I.
Why?
Because my Grandfather served on the Western Front
and Fired the First Allied Shot of World War I.
I created four posts about a place known as
Lochnagar Crater for Jo’s Monday Walk Challenge.
While there I discovered that for a modest fee the
Friends of Lochnagar Crater would create a plaque for one’s relative
as a means of raising money to keep the site maintained.
So, when this photo arrived via email,
to say that I was pleased, proud and happy
would be an understatement.
My Auntie, my Grandfather’s only surviving child,
(Dad passed away in 2001 and his other Sister in 2016)
was also extremely pleased and proud to know her Father
had been memorialised in the country where he had
served his country during The Great War.
Click on this link to read Lochnagar Part 4.
Links to all other Lochnagar posts can be found there as well.
Happy New Year
~~~~~
Thursday’s Special: Best 2017 Picture
THURSDAY’S SPECIAL-July-August-Recap
Commencing in July…
Candi at play.
A Great White Egret.
Geelong Marina.
The Beaumont-Hammel,
Newfoundland Memorial
in France.
Sunrise on the You Yangs, which are located
about midway between Geelong and Melbourne.
Memories of a fog and -3 degrees outing in early August.
Lochnagar Crater on The Somme Battlefields.
Another Pea Soup fog in Geelong.
Same day playing with Photoshop levels.
One of my favourite shots form Torquay.
A memorial to my Grandfather,
now in place at Lochnagar Crater in France,
where he served in World War I.
An August sunrise on Geelong’s Corio Bay.
~~~~~
Thursday’s Special: July-August-Recap
Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk33_Lochnagar-Crater-Pt-4
~~~~~
Jo’s Monday Walk
Week-33
Lochnagar Crater
Part 1: Lochnagar Crater
Part 2 The Moles of Lochnagar
Part 3: The Women of The Great War
Part 4: Being Involved
Approaching Lochnagar Crater,
the first thing to catch you eye is
a giant cross which overlooks the Crater.
DC Photography
Originally donated and erected in 1986 it suffered from lightning strikes and storm damage and yielded to the elements in August 2010. Over 20 feet in length the original Cross was made from wood from ‘…a deconsecrated Northumberland church…’, with 6 feet of it being below ground level.
A new Cross made of ‘…new green English oak…’ wand was erected in 2011.
Click here for more information about the Cross.
As visitors commenced their walk around the Crater it is hard…
not to notice these plaques along the boardwalk.
My initial thought was that they were dedicated
to soldiers who fought in and around…
Lochnagar and the Ovillers-la-Boisselle area of France.
However, I began to notice these plaques
and signs as well and another thought
began to take shape in my mind.
A few emails and the exchange of some
Aussie dollars for British Pounds…
and this photo arrived in my email.
Now I must point out that my Grandfather
was one of a dozen soldiers required to fire that shot.
He did not give the order to fire and as far as I know
he did not pull he trigger (so to speak),
but he was part of the crew that fired
the first allied shot in anger
a less than 4 hours after War had been declared
in London.
Now I have an excuse to revisit France one day.
~~~~~
More information can be found at the below links,
or by Googling First Shot World War I
http://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/such-was-life/first-shot-fired/
Next week we move on!
~~~~~
Jo’s Monday Walk
Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk32_Lochnagar-Crater-Pt-3
~~~~~
Jo’s Monday Walk
Week-32
Lochnagar Crater
Part 3…Women
Part 1: Lochnagar Crater
Part 2 The Moles of Lochnagar
Part 3: The Women of The Great War
Part 4: Being Involved
This week is dedicated to all the women who
served during World War War I
Among the foxholes surrounding
Lochnagar Crater…
is perhaps the only
Western Front memorial
dedicated to…
the women who served in
the Great War.
The meorial was donated by
Wenches in trenches
Click above or below for their website or
their Facebook Page
A simple…
but powerful memorial…
which describes the feelings of all who…
came in contact with the women…
of The Great War.
My Grandfather was one of those soldiers
who was thankful for skilled nursing staff
helping him back to good health
after being gassed on the Western Front.
~~~~~
