You're probably thinking what strange bedfellows in my diptych. And I'm in no way being flippant on this day of remembrance.
Unpacking this particular bottle from our recent case sparked a train of thought - wine - poppy - my dad's PoW experience.
He received the little German handbook when he was a PoW in a work camp at Dickerhoff and Widmann's cement works, at Cossebaude, near Dresden in 1943/44.
The conversation manual gives useful phrases for different situations and I've always been bemused by two entries under the heading "In der Kantine":
"Please give me a glass of wine = Bitte, geben Sie mir ein Glas Wein."
"Yes, a glass of white (red) wine = Ja, ein Glas Weisswein (Rotwein)."
The ABC of the German Language was No 11 in the series The War Prisoner's Pocket Library produced by the YMCA (wonder what the others were?) and I'm sure they meant well but, on the whole, little enough to eat in a PoW camp (apart from the miraculous arrival of Red Cross parcels from time to time), let alone a glass of wine to accompany it.
Chris, thanks for your interest. My dad kept daily diaries which he later wrote into an account of his PoW time. When he died in 1998, all his papers, photos etc came to me and I spent many hours word processing his story which I have for the family, and gave all originals to the museum in Leeds. He tried to get it published and I nearly managed it but it fell through - not heroic enough to be a POW minding your own business, hoping to get home intact I guess!
A nice and lovely book to remember what life have been those days. ( And what man is able to do )Take good care of it so it can seen/and be a warning, in future
I think as long as we remember, it does not really matter how or what; the important thing is that remembering what others sacrificed for us
This is uniquely an excellent tribute for Rememberance weekend
:0)
Great thoughts and memories.
Thanks for stopping by and your comments. I like the way you've changed into a poppy - but hope it won't be permanent!
Chris, thanks for your interest. My dad kept daily diaries which he later wrote into an account of his PoW time. When he died in 1998, all his papers, photos etc came to me and I spent many hours word processing his story which I have for the family, and gave all originals to the museum in Leeds. He tried to get it published and I nearly managed it but it fell through - not heroic enough to be a POW minding your own business, hoping to get home intact I guess!
This is uniquely an excellent tribute for Rememberance weekend
:0)