OT Interesting WW1 pix

[harryagain]

[Another John]

Harry, you are often irritating [1] but you so often come up with gems like this! Thanks a lot!

John

[1] Often, I think, deliberately, you rogue.

[newshound]

+1, a remarkable collection.

[Broadback]

What always amazes me about war is the total devastation, yet a few years later it hardly seems noticeable. I understand urban areas recovering with extensive rebuilding, but how dose the countryside recover so quickly?

[Robin]

Lots and lots and lots of hard (and sometimes dangerous) labour to clear ordnance, barbed wire etc; fill in shell holes and trenches; bring in mechnaized ploughs; and so on. Also used PoWs at first and then lots of migrant labour (eg from Poland). There are accounts online; and if you stay on a farm in Picardie etc you may well find locals willing to tell you the stories of how their farms and farm houses were reconstituted - even if like me your French stops at "ma tante".

-- Robin reply to address is (meant to be) valid

[The Natural Philosopher]

You obviously don't live in the country!

Wife freaks out as I take digger to the 'lawn' and screams "It will take years..."

6 months later its a carpet of weeds. after mowing for another 6 months its mainly mower tolerant grass..

[tony sayer]

In article , Another John scribeth thus

Yes indeed. I never knew that Japan sided with Britain in WW1 !...

[Nightjar]

We had been allies since 1902, which was a major break from Britain's isolationist policy that was driven by concerns over Russian ambitions in the Far East.

Colin Bignell

[harryagain]

[Nightjar]

I thought everybody knew that. Ernest Hemingway's experiences in the Italian campaign were the basis for A Farewell To Arms. British troops supporting the Italians were the first allied troops to enter enemy territory.

Colin Bignell