Over by Christmas?

[goat major]

I do like those Austrians

[Etranger]

Such an interesting period but doesn't inspire me to game it. Your table however is beautiful. I recently watched a multipart series on DVD which I think was by the BBC many years ago. In the style of World at War. I was amazed how little I actually knew about the war and in fact how it was fought. Really surprised me to learn just how much mobile warfare took place outside the western front...

That BBC documentary pre dates The World at War by about 10 years. It was ground breaking in style and content, and remarkable for the interviews and recollections of men and women who took part in the conflict, one of the things that also made World at War so interesting. "The Great War", beautifully narrated by Sir Micheal Redgrave, was shown on Sunday afternoons, a fond memory for me as I watched it with my dad. Gods, that was way back in the '60s....

There's also a more recent 10 parter from around 15 years ago (my boxed set is c~2004) by Huw Strachan. Also worth a watch, although a lot of the archival film is understandably familiar.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Now all those WWI veterans are gone, and my generation is probably the last that knew people who went through it, in fact, we are the last generation that actually knew people who could rightly be called Victorians. My children will be one of the last generations to have known anybody involved in WWII. Scary thought, once we are gone it truly will be just history.

There was once a day when someone said that about Napoleonic/Waterloo veterans - yet we still remember them and their victories and service, so I wouldn't worry that it will be "lost" in that sense.

My maternal grandmother was born just days before Queen Victoria died, so technically a Victorian. One of 10 children, but sadly the only one I ever met was her younger sister. Her brothers (all older) served in WW1 and all came home - the only one who was wounded (shell shock), was - somewhat ironically - in the Army Medical Corps (as it then was). The rest were in the Irish Guards, where they served alongside (unbeknown to them at the time) one of my paternal grandfather's brothers.

In another bizarre coincidence, both my late father and late father-in-law, who never met as far as we know, were in some of the same parade ground scenes in "Carry On, Sergeant".

My next door neighbour was born in India when it was still British and can vividly recall life there in the days of the Raj. I keep telling him to record his experiences before modern Indian "historians" completely re-write it (according to some of them we are solely responsible for the caste system and Hindu-Muslim animosity).

[grizzlymc]

"(according to some of them we are solely responsible for the caste system and Hindu-Muslim animosity)."

I recently had a face palm moment on LinkedIn. In response to an article about "Queen Bee" syndrome in office politics on LinkedIn, I facetiously suggested that this must all be part of the patriarchy's plan for divide and rule. This sparked a three post tirade about how that was exactly the case. I think cognitive dissonance is just something some people don't suffer from.

[curlerman]

That BBC documentary pre dates The World at War by about 10 years. It was ground breaking in style and content, and remarkable for the interviews and recollections of men and women who took part in the conflict, one of the things that also made World at War so interesting. "The Great War", beautifully narrated by Sir Micheal Redgrave, was shown on Sunday afternoons, a fond memory for me as I watched it with my dad. Gods, that was way back in the '60s....

[/quote]

I guess that's the one I have. I was given it by a freind who collected it for me . It was given as a serialised give away in the daily telegraph. I had been wondering how I missed the original because by 1960 my interest in things military had already taken flight. The answer was obvious .. We never actually had a telly till the mid to late 60's . We were a radio 4 family

[Paul]

My next door neighbour was born in India when it was still British and can vividly recall life there in the days of the Raj. I keep telling him to record his experiences before modern Indian "historians" completely re-write it (according to some of them we are solely responsible for the caste system and Hindu-Muslim animosity).

That's a recording i'd love to hear.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

We never actually had a telly till the mid to late 60's .

I suspect most of us were the same. I can recall going down to the "telly shop" in New Malden high street (it was still called "Radio Rentals") with my dad to rent one in time for the World Cup in 1966. Both sets of neighbours - neither of whom had one - came in to watch the final. Another neighbour, also without a telly (probably for religious reasons) refused; he was the sort of man who gives dour Scotsmen a bad name, and my father - a devout Irishman - said it was worth watching England win, just to see the look on his face the next day.

[grizzlymc]

I remember we rented our telly in the UK right up to 1970 when we emigrated to Aus. Australians thought it rather odd that people would rent a TV.

[Essex Boy]

Back in 1989 I rented a tiny 21" TV and a fridge from Radio Rentals because I couldn't afford to buy them.