Newsletter sixty eight

[charlie_cochrane]

I think we had sleet this morning. Winter is here...

News

At least the monthly dose of that old codger Beare and his desperate old jokes will warm the cockles of our hearts.

And that loquacious young codger, Jonty Stewart, has been giving a character interview. Those of you who prefer Orlando be warned. Jonty is in mischievous form.

Now, do you ever run across something you wrote and think, “Oh! Did I produce that? It’s rather good. If incredibly daft...” There is a link here to a whole collection of daftness in the form of requested flashfics and limericks featuring Jonty and Orlando, my werewolves, my actor ladies, etc. Enjoy! (You have been warned.)

Inspiration:


Not only are war graves incredibly moving, the inscription at the bottom of this one fascinates me. What story is there to tell?

Comments

The Rest of the Story

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Vincent's full name was Charles George Vincent; he was born in Carisbrooke on the Isle of Wight and enlisted in Newport, Isle of Wight in the 8th Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment--the Isle of Wight Rifles.

Vincent died at sea--probably of illness, as there's no mention of wounds. His battalion would have been between battles; it landed at Moudros on August 6, 1915 and at Suvla Bay three days later, leaving Gallipoli on December 3, 1915. It arrived in Alexandria, Egypt on December 19, 1915. Somewhere along the way, he seems to have fallen ill; he might even have been en route home when he died. That's probably why his tombstone reads, "He TRIED to do his duty"; he wasn't killed in battle and didn't die of injuries. Indeed, it's most probable that he died of dysentary; there was a huge outbreak of that in Gallipoli. Any civilian might have died the same way.

Whoever C.G.'s comrade Jack was, he seems to have survived WWI. Only two men from the Hampshire Regiment who had a possible first name of John (one was designated "J.E.") died after January 9, 1916 AND were buried in Netley Military Cemetery--and both were from different battalions than Vincent.

(I figured that if Jack was called Jack on C.G's gravestone, that might have been because he was local. Everyone already knew his last name. Hence my checking Netley Military Cemetery.)

Re: The Rest of the Story

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this. So many things which chimed. Carisbrooke - I know the area and am now wondering where he lived (see, each answer produces a new question).

The guide who took us around didn't mention anything about Jack, so I guessed he wasn't at Netley. The stories of some of the chaps there were really moving, like the one who'd died first day of the Somme and the one who'd probably been injured by gas the first day that was used against the British.

The graves at Netley aren't just of locals. There was a huge military hospital there, treating allied and german casualties. Patients and staff who died at the hospital were buried in the graveyard, so there are people from all over the UK and a number of nationalities, including many Belgian graves.

Re: The Rest of the Story

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Well, we now know that Nora wasn't his sister, nor was Jack his brother.

http://www.royalvictoriamilitaryhospital.net/2011_11_01_archive.html

Re: The Rest of the Story

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

See? Just more questions. Nice article, although not sure how reliable some of the road names are (the censuses are notorious for having errors of transctription in them!)

Thank you.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

P.S. Thanks to his soldier number being on Commonwealth War Graves, I was able to look Vincent up on "Soldiers Who Died in the Great War" on findmypast.co.uk. That's where I learned that he'd died at sea, where his battalion was, and all the rest of it.

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Oh, you star! I'd found him at the CWGC but didn't know about findmypast. Tragic story - made me think of Rupert Brooke.

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Jack was his dog?

I know, I know. :D It's not very romantic.

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

Not romantic but I suppose possible. Especially if it was his boyhood pet. That's the problem with these places - always more questions.

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

What terrific information about CGV - I need to subscribe to a site like that.

That final line on the headstone has slashy possibilities, (and it would be very daring to state it so clearly) but then I wondered if Jack was a dog!

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

LOL I was still stuck with the slashy possibilities. And our guide to the cemetery didn't mention the dog aspect. Never seen a dog refernced on a tombstone, though...

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

A bomb sniffing spaniel has just been awarded a posthumous Dicken Medal for services in Afghanistan. I wonder if he's mentioned on his handler's headstone?

I am saving Beare's latest for a dreary moment. He always makes me smile. Or rather grimace.

I loved Jonty's interview, though I think there's a typo in it....

7 - What one word best describes you?
Irrepressible.

Shouldn't that be indefatigable? ;)

[charliecochrane.livejournal.com]

LOL Oh yes, missed a chance there.

Beare will make you grimnace a lot this time around. :)

(And that spaniel story is very touching).