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A pair of lines in my hands

Daisy was up from the battle school today but I missed him, I have not seen him for three weeks now, that is the longest spell since we joined up,…

Daisy was up from the battle school today but I missed him, I have not seen him for three weeks now, that is the longest spell since we joined up, or even before that for a couple of years. He left a snap of my team of greys that had been sent in one of his letters. I was glad to get it, I would give a lot to be able to get a pair of lines in my hands again, but I guess that can wait until the business in hand is completed.

This past Saturday saw the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Today, however, is a much more significant date for me, the 65th anniversary of the death of my namesake, a little inland from those terrible beaches.

I've written before on his death, how he and 39 other Prisoners of War, were sat down in a field, just off the Highway to Caen near Fontenay Le Pesnal, and gunned down. The last words they would have heard were "And now you die" by one of their executioners. By the accounts of those that escaped there was a realization of what was about to happen in the moments leading up to their deaths, and I imagine that some of their thoughts turned to home.

A little about what I know about Clare come from letters that he wrote to my grandfather, and it is clear to me that his thoughts turned both to the past that had been left in Canada, and the future that awaited him there. He spoke (as the passage above showed) about his horses. Both he and his father were keen horsemen, and he longed to once again to have reins in his hands. But even more telling from that passage is the importance of friends to him, the mention of not seeing his friend for three weeks, the longest time in years.

He looked to the future, hoping to buy one of the family farms if it was still available after the war…

Perhaps it is a little early in the game to call the score, but I do a lot of thinking about the matter of Grandma's farm, naturally I don't expect it to be held over, but if it is still in the same status when I do get there, I shall be doing my best to work out some arrangements satasfactory (sp) to the majority of the people concerned.

He thought, of course, of the future Mrs Kines before he was "too old"…

Mil may have told you that my Little Lady in London is now a married woman, so all chances of the girl in England not liking a farm have vanished, after all there can hardly be two girls as nice as she is in a small country like England, anyway there is always the one back home, if I could only make up my mind which one. If I don't make it up soon I'll be too old to care, I don't feel so old most of the time, and now that I have shaved my moustache off I don't think I look a day over thirty. (he was 29 when he was killed)

But one of the most telling aspects of him that his letters left was his concern and comforting of my Grandfather who, like the old soldier he was, was angry and upset about not being able to take part in the fight in Europe himself…

and I honestly think that you are filling a vital position where you are, and hope that you will continue to serve in the manner you have since this whole affair started, not that I am wishing that you could not do the things that you most desire to do, but that in my opinion it is just as important  to have competent men in the business back there as in this side of the works, I hope I have made myself clear, but knowing how badly you wanted to get into it again I am treading  on shallow ice, another case of fools walking in where angels fear to tread.

In short, we often don't think about the life of the soldier who was killed, just their lives. They were (and are) no different than us. And while we often speak of the loss of potential that happens when so many young lives are ended, it is loss of the mundane, and the magnificence that is wrapped up in that mundane, that is the most profoundly felt. These men, who gave their all, lived ordinary lives, and I have them to thank for the opportunity to live my ordinary, and magnificent, life.

Comments

4 responses

  1. Kara Avatar
    Kara

    We really enjoy reading these posts Clare. They are taking on more meaning now. My cousin and a close friend of Matt’s are heading to Afghanistan in August.

  2. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    Thanks Kara, I hope they are able to keep safe over there.

  3. Robb Avatar
    Robb

    Kia ora Clare,
    You have a gift in bringing history alive and helping me to understand and appreciate the past and the significance of these lives to ours today. Kia ora.
    Cheers,
    Robb

  4. Clare Avatar
    Clare

    Thank you very much Robb