Just wow. Just like the last trip two years ago this was something special. Thank you to everyone on the trip. Great bunch of lads and lasses who made the whole thing unforgettable. Well done Neal. Organisation was impeccable. Clive is just amazing. Knowledge, enthusiasm and humour and an ability to command everyone’s attention. Highlight of the trip for me was this morning with Clive’s quip about the Germans waiting for penalties. Good to meet up with Michael and Matthias again. When’s the next trip.
I would like to echo the above comments. Clive is an amazing guide who brings the subject alive with wonderfully moving and amusing anacdotes. Equal thanks to Neal for making it all happen. Great bunch of Charlton Lifers all added to the enjoyment.
Looks a fantastic tour yet again. Jealous I couldn't attend with the family. How many in total? Looks about thirty, which is a top achievement. Well done @LargeAddick, @SE7toSG3, and everyone involved.
Arrived back home in sunny Essex and wanted to relay the gratitude of the Essex contingent. Obviously big thanks to Clive. Amazing knowledge and ability to tell a story. We’re lucky to have him at our club. Also big thanks to Neal for all the organisation. And thanks to everyone on the coach for making it a great weekend
Hugely informative and inspiring. Every one of our group want to know where and when the next one is.
Huge thanks to Neal for organising, I imagine these things take some serious time planning, and also to Clive who is a wonderful guide with such knowledge delivered in a great style.
Listening to the personal stories and anecdotes of those that fought there really is an incredible experience.
I hope to be along on the 6th August, work permitting.
Thanks all for your company this weekend and kind comments, also @LargeAddick who put a lot of his time and effort in the planning.
What a privilege to be part of a group of Addicks from both home and Germany and remember, empathise and commemorate the efforts and sacrifices of the generation that endured the Great War over a century ago. To have a top evening swapping stories, laughter and drinks topped it off.
Personally, I thought the Chartreuse was a triumph!
I think there were 47 of us but Neal/Large, who did a great job organising it along with Clive, can confirm.
Very enjoyable, despite the silly o'clock start and a wet Saturday.
Thanks from the museum for the £500+ raised (same amount went to the Upbeats).
Great to see some old faces as well as meeting some lifers for the first time.
Not sure why Millwall fans were allowed but they behaved themselves and took the constant ribbing well.
Nice to have the German Addicks with us too.
Next event is 6 August when the museum opens a new memorial at the Valley before Clive and @Blitzwalker do a SE7 blitz walk from the Valley to the White Swan where they, and I, will give some talks on football and war.
Looks a fantastic tour yet again. Jealous I couldn't attend with the family. How many in total? Looks about thirty, which is a top achievement. Well done @LargeAddick, @SE7toSG3, and everyone involved.
There were 48 of us including two Millwall fans (boo) but we were all there for the same reason.
It was a pleasure to organise and I’m glad everyone enjoyed our time there. A massive thanks to Clive without whom it would be nowhere near as interesting or enjoyable. Especially pleased for @Buglehorn who got to visit the exact spot where his great grandfather died at Cherisy and the Arras Memorial where he is remembered.
Fantastic couple of days familiarising myself with places that have only ever been names before. Obviously good company including the Millwall fans and Michael and Matteus who had driven up through Germany to be able to join us. Fascinating to see the steel crosses in the German cemetery where over 40,000 are buried. Well organised by Neal and brought to life as only Mr Clive Harris can. An honour and a pleasure to listen to a man who has been obsessed by WW1 history in particular since childhood. Hope to be able to join another one in due course.
What an enjoyable weekend! An exhausting 22-hour day on Saturday (up at 2am to get to Ebbsfleet for the coach!), but there was plenty to maintain interest and even the persistent rain on Saturday failed to dampen enthusiasm. A joy to renew acquaintances from the Ypres trip, and to make new ones. A special thank you to @Chippycafc for saving me from driving to Kent & back by giving me a lift.
Thank you to Neil for organising it, and to Clive whose encyclopedic knowledge and infectious enthusiasm brought so much to the places and events we were learning about and commemorating. Between you, you absolutely nailed the art of squeezing a quart of enjoyment into a pint pot of time.
Thanks to Neal for organising a fantastic trip. Could you sort the weather out for the next one though ! Thanks to Clive for such a memorable couple of days and for including the story of my gt grandfather today at Cherisy. Cheers to everyone on the trip.
I note that you had no intention of bringing that round back to Britain. Three years ago I was eating my lunch in Courcelette British cemetery and there was was a Canadian there. He told me that he was writing a biography of Currie and was spending a couple on months based in London whilst he garnered information in Europe for his book. [I doubt that any of this was true]. He expressed some surprise that he hadn’t seen any unexploded shells lying around. I told him that there were some irrigation channels being dug a few hundred yards up a track to Pozieres and there were a few shells that had been unearthed there. He said he would have a look and went up the track. He returned about 5 minutes later carrying an 18 pounder shell and announced that he intended taking it back to London via the ChannelTunnel!
I gave him my strongly worded opinion about his sanity and left him to it.
Many thanks from Germany to Neal @LargeAddick and Clive @SE7toSG3 for organizing and leading through the tour. It was a great pleasure to join this tour. A big bonus this time, we could get on the coach on Saturday. So we were able to get more information and lots of Clive's stories. Really emotional are the moments when someone tells the story of one of his or her relative, who fought and died in the war. Last but not least: Good to see many known faces and to have the chance for a talk.
Want to add my thanks to both Neil and Clive for another amazing historical lesson.
Also good to put faces to CL names. Good to catch up again with our Brexit expert (?) @Chippycafc who has amused me over the years with his views on the subject.
Finally, caught up, quite by chance, with a football adversary, from the 1970s - what a remarkable chance meeting, Ian Wallis.
Comments
Thanks Sarge for the lift to the car park ticket machine. A gent of an Addick.!
Clive is an amazing guide who brings the subject alive with wonderfully moving and amusing anacdotes.
Equal thanks to Neal for making it all happen. Great bunch of Charlton Lifers all added to the enjoyment.
Hugely informative and inspiring. Every one of our group want to know where and when the next one is.
Huge thanks to Neal for organising, I imagine these things take some serious time planning, and also to Clive who is a wonderful guide with such knowledge delivered in a great style.
Listening to the personal stories and anecdotes of those that fought there really is an incredible experience.
I hope to be along on the 6th August, work permitting.
What a privilege to be part of a group of Addicks from both home and Germany and remember, empathise and commemorate the efforts and sacrifices of the generation that endured the Great War over a century ago. To have a top evening swapping stories, laughter and drinks topped it off.
Personally, I thought the Chartreuse was a triumph!
Very enjoyable, despite the silly o'clock start and a wet Saturday.
Thanks from the museum for the £500+ raised (same amount went to the Upbeats).
Great to see some old faces as well as meeting some lifers for the first time.
Not sure why Millwall fans were allowed but they behaved themselves and took the constant ribbing well.
Nice to have the German Addicks with us too.
Next event is 6 August when the museum opens a new memorial at the Valley before Clive and @Blitzwalker do a SE7 blitz walk from the Valley to the White Swan where they, and I, will give some talks on football and war.
All free but you can make a donation.
It was a pleasure to organise and I’m glad everyone enjoyed our time there. A massive thanks to Clive without whom it would be nowhere near as interesting or enjoyable. Especially pleased for @Buglehorn who got to visit the exact spot where his great grandfather died at Cherisy and the Arras Memorial where he is remembered.
An exhausting 22-hour day on Saturday (up at 2am to get to Ebbsfleet for the coach!), but there was plenty to maintain interest and even the persistent rain on Saturday failed to dampen enthusiasm.
A joy to renew acquaintances from the Ypres trip, and to make new ones. A special thank you to @Chippycafc for saving me from driving to Kent & back by giving me a lift.
Thank you to Neil for organising it, and to Clive whose encyclopedic knowledge and infectious enthusiasm brought so much to the places and events we were learning about and commemorating. Between you, you absolutely nailed the art of squeezing a quart of enjoyment into a pint pot of time.
I note that you had no intention of bringing that round back to Britain. Three years ago I was eating my lunch in Courcelette British cemetery and there was was a Canadian there. He told me that he was writing a biography of Currie and was spending a couple on months based in London whilst he garnered information in Europe for his book. [I doubt that any of this was true]. He expressed some surprise that he hadn’t seen any unexploded shells lying around. I told him that there were some irrigation channels being dug a few hundred yards up a track to Pozieres and there were a few shells that had been unearthed there. He said he would have a look and went up the track. He returned about 5 minutes later carrying an 18 pounder shell and announced that he intended taking it back to London via the ChannelTunnel!
I gave him my strongly worded opinion about his sanity and left him to it.
Us humans never learn.
@BartramBlitz told us the story of another professional footballer, Pom Pom Whiting, named at the memorial.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Whiting
Also good to put faces to CL names. Good to catch up again with our Brexit expert (?) @Chippycafc who has amused me over the years with his views on the subject.
Finally, caught up, quite by chance, with a football adversary, from the 1970s - what a remarkable chance meeting, Ian Wallis.