Pack All Your Troubles (in your old kit bag)

From civvy to tin hat!!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• ww1
• great
• war
• tommies
• 1914
• 1918

[THECRAZYLAYDEE]

u from ponte by any chance pontefractus???

[PonteFractus]

 I'm from Leeds but live in Ponte :-)

[loumarven]

My grandfather served in the 1st World War and my mothers earliest memories were of him coming back from the trenches filthy and full of lice. But he volunteered to go back to fields and served time after the 'end' of the war and spent time digging up and reburying bodies. He never talked about it to his grandchildren and we always thought he was such a miserable, untouchable person. We did not know what horrors he saw.

[dj6927]

God, that sounds great. Sounds like it's on Dads Edison gramaphone. I'm just going through his "old kit bag" and remember him singing this. Made me wonder if it's a WW1 or WW2 song. Wikipedia says it was published in 1915, so that answers that one. Just wish Dad was here so I could show him how to find a song in just a "click". He probably wouldn't get out of this seat for days.

[MarkramUK]

@oldbobg My great-granddad fought in the trenches and always said to my granddad "Never in my life had I seen such extremes of humanity before the war. The constant fear, the brutality, and the extraordinary friendships." He never let the war get to him. War kills off the best of people.

[oldbobg]

@loumarven -- I had to reply. Had a great uncle who was in the trenches then as well. His experiences never came up. He had a hard life, never kept a job. Family did what they could for employment. It wasn't until we all became adults that we realized that he had seen sights too horrible to believe. He was gassed as well. We always made fun of him, always. I will never forget when we put it all together long after his death. I cried like a baby. Some cousins told me the same.

[11nytram11]

I get drawn sometimes into the glory of war but then I listen to songs&see pictures of men before battle&I think, I dwell on the thoughts of the millions of men who marched off to die singing those songs, someone's son, someone's brother, someone's sweetheart, a lost generation, &those songs always seem like the bitter-sweet echoes of men who marched unkowingly to slaughter.

"What's the use of worrying? It never was worthwile, pack up you troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile."

[Lolympics11]

As a member of todays youth who is expected to like people such as Lady Gaga, I often wonder what happened to music. Sure, there are some great songs and artists, but this, this is something else entirely; this is magic. And all the memories people are posting are wonderful. It makes me wonder what all the aged women will say about Justin Beiber in the future. To those who have served for us, I thank you.

[filthmonger172]

poor blighters. A moments silence please.

[N00bSa1b0tMK]

I never met my great grandfather but he fought in the war, the people who fought in those wars were very brave people and will be remembered forever.

[systemdry]

@loumarven My granddad won the Military Medal in WWI, As kid I found it in a drawer, when I asked how he won it, he said "I found it in a tin of bully beef! & threw it back in the drawer, It was never spoken of again. Of course now I know why. It now hangs on my wall as tribute not just to him, but to them all.

[SamhainBe]

Happy Armistice Day Everyone - Lest We Forget!