A Veterans Day moment.In the first year of the Great War (later referred to as World War 1), German and British forces, up and down the line, slowly and carefully came out of their trenches on December 25th, and an unofficial Christmas truce was agreed upon. Bodies were pulled from No Man's Land, joint ceremonies performed; food and small gifts were exchanged; the men sang carols together. It was, the last gasp of another, more gentle time, to paraphrase an historian. The next day, the fighting resumed.
This Christmas Truce is remembered in St. Yvon, Belgium, with a memorial cross. This is where cartoonist Captain Bruce Bairnsfather was at that time. There is a plaque with a diagram (Bairnsfather drawn?) of where in the foxhole he was that day. It's all in the modern-day video below. My thanks to Maurice at VideoHistoryToday for this.
Just down the road from the cross is the cottage where Bruce Bairnsfather drew his first war cartoons and there is a memorial plaque to him on it. If you google Bairnsfather memorial St Yvon you will get more details
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence Mike
ReplyDelete1. I've finished an article on "World War I in cartoons" and in a next post I wanted to write about this book, with many Bruce Bairnsfather cartoons.
2. I think this Youtube movie is filmed (can someone give me the exact position on the globe),less than 30 km from where I live here in Flanders (Fields?).
ECC Cartoonbooks Club article: 11th Nov. Armistice Day Passchendaele
Thanks for your comments. Sometimes when I post stuff about old cartoons and old cartoonists, I get no response. Nice to know people like this.
ReplyDeleteAnon: thanks for the addtl. info.
Jan: Great minds think/blog alike! I had thought that the videographer (Maurice) had noted where he was. Hope you can find the memorial, Jan.
The plaque was sponsored by us, Tonie and Valmai Holt the biographers of Bruce Bairnsfather - 'In Search of the Better Ole, the Life, Works and Collectables of Bruce Bairnsfather'.
ReplyDeleteThe drawing on the plaque is a repro of the cartoon that he drew when he was shot at by the Germans while sniping from a nearby chimney.
This year, 2009, is the 50th anniversary of his death and we are planning commemorative activities in the UK and in Belgium.
Looking forward to hearing more about this, Tonie.
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous:
ReplyDeleteCan you inform me about the commemorative activities in Belgium?
my email: ecc.cartoonbooks@gmail.com
St-Yvon is in Ploegsteert.
I will visit this place (it's about 35 km from where I live). A few weeks I ago I bought some original "Fragments from France" and I want to make an article about Bairnfather.
September 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the death of BB. We have commemorative ceremonies planned in Belgium. We are also inviting leading cartoonists in the UK to create a modern version of one of BBs cartoons and to donate it to an auction that we are planning at the Cartoon Museum in London. All proceeds will go to the Help for Heroes Charity which supports soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. Anyone in the US like to join in?
ReplyDeleteThis is Maurice from Video History Today. Did you find the spot Jan? If you look at the statistics & data section of the YouTube video, I have marked the spot on Google maps. It is just visable on Google Earth. There is a memorial to Bairnsfather a few hundred yards round the corner shown. Not sure if the Holts did that as well. PM me on YouTube if you need any other info.
ReplyDeleteMaurice, I visited the spot 2 weeks ago. I did it by bicycle: it was only 26km from where I live. I've put some pics on Panoramio and I hope they will appear on Google Earth (panoramio layer) in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteHello Mike,
ReplyDeleteDid you reive my Bairnsfather mail om April 1 (it wasn't an April joke)?
Jan