Cycling Through a Foreign Field

A cycle ride through the First World War battlefields of Flanders and The Somme

Nonfiction, Sports, Cycling, Travel, Europe, France, History, Military, World War I
Cover of the book Cycling Through a Foreign Field by Julia  R May, Julia RMay
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Julia R May ISBN: 9780995641723
Publisher: Julia RMay Publication: July 2, 2018
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Julia R May
ISBN: 9780995641723
Publisher: Julia RMay
Publication: July 2, 2018
Imprint:
Language: English

In an overheated room in a sheltered housing complex in Burnley there is a small, carved wooden box. The box is a depository for memories, half remembered or forgotten entirely. Inside this box are two life times of old photographs, some sepia, some black and white, known and unknown ancestors; and laid carefully on top of them all sits a newspaper clipping, faded and torn at the edges, over one hundred years old now.

The clipping was taken from the Burnley Express which in 1916 was running a regular feature of Burnley families and the contributions they were making to the First World War. The clipping shows eight head and shoulder photographs of mother and father and six of their sons. One son is in a reserved occupation, one son is too young to fight. The other four sons are in uniform, serving soldiers in the Great War.

The occupant of this hot, stuffy little room and keeper of this box of memories is a lady in her late eighties, frail now and suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, her memory is fading like the contents of the box. She is my mother, Rose. The youngest son in the old newspaper clipping is her father.

In spring 2018 my partner and I set out to cycle the battlefields of Flanders and The Somme; to retrace our forefathers’ footsteps and to find out a little of where they served, the conditions they endured and what had become of them during the First World War.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In an overheated room in a sheltered housing complex in Burnley there is a small, carved wooden box. The box is a depository for memories, half remembered or forgotten entirely. Inside this box are two life times of old photographs, some sepia, some black and white, known and unknown ancestors; and laid carefully on top of them all sits a newspaper clipping, faded and torn at the edges, over one hundred years old now.

The clipping was taken from the Burnley Express which in 1916 was running a regular feature of Burnley families and the contributions they were making to the First World War. The clipping shows eight head and shoulder photographs of mother and father and six of their sons. One son is in a reserved occupation, one son is too young to fight. The other four sons are in uniform, serving soldiers in the Great War.

The occupant of this hot, stuffy little room and keeper of this box of memories is a lady in her late eighties, frail now and suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, her memory is fading like the contents of the box. She is my mother, Rose. The youngest son in the old newspaper clipping is her father.

In spring 2018 my partner and I set out to cycle the battlefields of Flanders and The Somme; to retrace our forefathers’ footsteps and to find out a little of where they served, the conditions they endured and what had become of them during the First World War.

More books from World War I

Cover of the book Chester in the Great War by Julia  R May
Cover of the book What the “Boys” Did Over There by Julia  R May
Cover of the book La batalla del Somme by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Brother Bosch an Airman's Escape from Germany by Julia  R May
Cover of the book A Soldier's Sketches Under Fire by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Over the Top by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Battle Story: Cambrai 1917 by Julia  R May
Cover of the book The War In South Africa by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Salient Points Three by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Advance to Victory 1918 by Julia  R May
Cover of the book The Zimmermann Telegram by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Woodrow Wilson alla Conferenza di Parigi by Julia  R May
Cover of the book The Battle for Flanders by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Passati remoti. 1914-1919 due saggi sulla Grande Guerra by Julia  R May
Cover of the book Capturing Hill 70 by Julia  R May
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy