And here I ended my day on the old front line. St. Mary’s Advanced Dressing Station, Loos. A long day but being in these places…….

The light and the suns position were kind to me this morning and these images were captured accordingly. Usually the last stop of the day. Nice to have a change and today it was the first. #vimy #canada #CEF With Leger Battlefield Tours AQWF

Absolutely stunning light this morning at Vimy. First stop of the day.

Just watched this. It’s not a war film but oh……so powerful. Films don’t make me cry but this did.

Terrible scenes from Bihucourt near Bapaume on Somme. Tornado storms. I hope no one hurt but how awful. World is in chaos but no one listens.

First stop on our The King's School battlefields Holts Tours tour: a moving visit to CommonwealthWarGraves Ramskapelle Rd Military Cemetery for one pupil visiting her great great grandfather, Able Seaman Ernest Alfred Hobbs DSM.

The humble British Tommy. As good a soldier as any. Even surrounded by death and in a muddy hell the humour shone through. You could never defeat him. The Ancre Valley, Somme, November 1916. One of my favourite images of the Great War.

La escena final de Gallipoli (1981) junto a la banda sonora de Jean-Michel Jarre es algo insuperable.

*Aviso spoiler.

Somme battlefields. Winter sunrise from Montauban towards Hardecourt with Bois Maricourt and German’s Wood in the distance. #somme #sunrise

Autumn reflections

On Trafalgar Day I think it is apt to post a photo of my Great Uncle Harry Chalmers, who was killed on 13th November 1916 at the Battle of the Ancre whilst serving with Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division.

Next month or early December I shall visit the British Museum hieroglyphs exhibition celebrating the break through 200 years ago. My breakthrough started in 2016. Still a beginner but childhood awe now an ability to read. Amenemhat and the scribe Samontu Lord of Veneration.

This is the inner coffin of a woman called Tabakenkhonsu who lived and died during the 25th Dynasty around 2600 years ago. She was buried in the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, and I shared a photo of her bead shroud a few weeks ago.

Also in St Mary Abbotts church Kensington and easily overlooked is this panelled war memorial and special memorial to Captain Walter Harry Cornfield Bucknall. Killed at Monchy Le Preux, Arras, 3/5/1917. One of the most bloody days of battle in the whole war for the British.