Somme

Yes Willow I know your daughter and I told her not to worry as she was a little disappointed afterwards. It is very scary having a microphone pushed towards you.
How did they come across on the radio?
I couldn't hear them very well as I didn't want to get too close to them and put them off.
 
Got back from a tour of the battlefields and graves of the Somme at 12:15 this morning. We managed to miss the media at the larger memorials by rejiggling the schedule and as a special request we visited the Pals memorial. It`s set quite a way from the main road, up a track and is situated at the corner edge of the woods, just in front of the trench line. The forest is pine and Saturday when we visited gave respite from the hot sun. Through the forest, which is dotted with shell holes, you reach the forward trench and then Railway Hill cemetary, where 57 of the Pals are buried. This cemetary as all war cemetaries in France and Belgium is meticulosly maintained by the Commenwealth War Graves Committee. At each cemetary is a small vault in the wall which holds a record of all the graves at that site together with a visitors book. The site, once the coach parties had left was incredibly peaceful, with a spectacular view over the surrounding countryside and the memorial of Accrington brick and black marble does stand out as something special due to its location and design. I`d recommend anyone visiting that area to stop off, make a short walk and pay your respects to the brave men of the area.
 
An educated guess - it was a medal given out to all the children in the borough to celebrate Peace Day on July 19th 1919 - the date of the official national celebrations of the Allied victory.
 
I wish my eyesight was better...but it looks to me that the medal is something else...much later. I shall reserve my comments for the ribbon until there are a few more posts.
 
The lettering around the coat-of-arms side says: Borough Of Accrington Celebration Of Peace. The lettering around the other side, apart from saying Peace 1919 also says: In Commemoration Of The Great War 1914-1918.
 
OK....well that demolishes my earlier theory!

But just to evolve the thread once again...I don't know how many people on here visit Andrew Jackson's brilliant website on the Pals. It is regularly updated and the last update was the end of June. This is probably the best yet, with footage of the Pals marching, back in Accy in 1915. Here is the link:

http://www.pals.org.uk/film/film1.htm
 
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Err......I thought it was the 50th Anniversary Corporation of Accrington Medal (1878-1928) with a bit of French ribbon tagged on. These things do happen!
 
Well, there was a Golden Jubilee medal, although i've never seen one. Must admit the ribbon colours had me wondering a bit too, but I suppose it's just the red, white and blue of the Union flag.
 
Yeah...I suppose they could have used the colours of the East Lancs regiment (Red & Maroon, as in Accy Corporation Buses) but that may have upset all those who served in other regiments, corps, etc.

Back to the film footage...any theories on exactly where that may have been shot? I thought somewhere on the road between Intack & West End...but then there are an awful lot of onlookers (which would suggest that the pavements from West End into Accy, through Church would have been packed)
 
Well, its a hedge in the background with four or five people around the post (all men)...I think there is a youngster who makes an appearance in the last few frames. There are only two possibilities..between Intack & West End and between West End and Church (by the canal bank). Trouble is, we don't know who the photographer is or if there was any accompaning notes.
 
Something else,. I make the clip lasting just under a minute in which we see about 200 men, roughly company strength, togeather with band, (which is not at the front of the column) Maybe there is a fuller version in the archive which covers the entire battion or maybe what we are seeing is the Accrington Company or possibly the District Company, with the Burnley and the Chorley pals having gone their own way.
 
Would've thought that the Chorley and Blackburn divisions had gone their own way and that what we see is a section of the Accrington and Burnley divisions on their way to their respective home towns to embark on the recruiting drive which is mentioned...but again just guesswork. It'd be great to find out more background info about this fascinating snippet of film.
 
Well, 1st August was a sunday & if you follow the link from the film to the still photographs you get a couple of shots of the town centre. I don't think the deck was as crowded in your day!

It looks like it was the entire battalion and what we see in the film exert is exactly that...just some of the battalion that came past. I would guess that the people watching from the road at West End would be doing so because it was one of the better places to get a view.
 
I've watched it a few more times and I've changed my mind about the location. I reckon it's somewhere between the Old Mother Redcap and the farmhouse at West End.
 
Yeah...I agree. The post that you see in the background has got to be for the trams. It also seems to be on a slight incline, so I suspect it is this specific stretch of road:
 

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Tealeaf said:
I don't know how many people on here visit Andrew Jackson's brilliant website on the Pals. It is regularly updated and the last update was the end of June. This is probably the best yet, with footage of the Pals marching, back in Accy in 1915.
Click to expand...

Many thanks, Tealeaf. It's rewarding to know that the site continues to be appreciated. The clip that you see on the site is just the first minute of a film that lasts for around 3 minutes in total. I hope to add the remainder later in the year. In the meantime, I think that the complete film might form part of the exhibition that's on at the Haworth over the summer. Maybe someone could confirm that.

Andrew
 
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