#bellenglise

[scrapironflotilla]

A damaged wayside crucifix near Bellenglise being used to hold telephone wires, 9 October 1918.

[fettesans]

Top, photograph by David McLellan, A damaged wayside crucifix near Bellenglise (being used to hold telephone wires), 9 October 1918. Via. More. Bottom, photograph by LA Hyder, Untitled, 1984, Gelatin silver print. Used for the cover of the first issue of On Our Backs, Summer 1984. Via. Via.

--

In language that today seems bizarre or even repulsive, the side-wound was addressed as “Heart pierc’d deep,” as “precious Cavity,” as the “Dearest,…Sweetest,…most beloved Side-Hole.” Believers imagined turning to the side wound to drink from it as from a spring, to touch it and kiss it, or even to crawl inside it and live within its warm and welcoming shelter. The side wound was revered as the place out of which the believers had been spiritually born and through which their souls would pass again at the time of their death to enter paradise.

Peter Vogt, from “Honor to the Side": The Adoration of the Side Wound of Jesus in Eighteenth-Century Moravian Piety, 2009. Via.

[visualpoett]

A damaged wayside crucifix near Bellenglise being used to hold telephone wires, 9 October 1918.

[thisdayinwwi]

Oct 9 1918 IWM Q 9533 “A damaged wayside crucifix near Bellenglise” October 9 1918 by McLellan, David (Second Lieutenant) (Photographer)  

Jan 24 1918  IWM Q 10628 - “An officer inspects a calvary damaged by shell fire at Ste. Catherine, near Arras" by Thomas Keith Aitken (Second Lieutenant) (Photographer)

Aug 26 1919 Photographer Georges Chevalier takes this colour autochrome image, A 17 496 , of a damaged crucifix in Bourg-et-Comin, Aisne, France, 

26 aout 1919 Source: Albert-Kahn Museum / Department of Hauts-de-Seine

[poor-bloody-infantry]

Eight men of the 46th Battalion who were members of a company of 127 who captured 500 Germans from the Hindenburg Line, near Bellenglise, in the advance of 19 and 20 September, 1918. Apropos of this and similar incidents, a German battalion commander captured in the operations, when asked how it was possible for the Australians to take so many prisoners with so few casualties against such a strong position, replied 'your men are so brave and have so much dash it is impossible to stop them'. Identified left to right, back row: Private (Pte) P. Brunton; J. Harding; Bates; 3395A Pte Thomas C. Turrell; Lance Corporal Logan. Front row: 4938 Sergeant George H. Tyers; Tucker and 2536 Pte Charles A. Pitkethly.

[solomons-finest-rum]

Hey! I was thinking of requesting how Alfie and the reader met years ago. Maybe since he served in WW1 the reader could have been a nurse instructed to heal his wounds but Alfie is stubborn and doesn’t want any help but she insists on it anyway since it’s her job and because she likes him. Maybe he asks her out after the war is over and that’s how she ended up working for him and they’ve been happily married ever since. Thanks! :)

"Not On My Watch, Soldier" — (Alfie Solomons x fem!Reader)

SUMMARY — Captain Solomons wasn't the ideal patient to treat; you soon came to the realisation just how much of a handful the man could really be.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — Thank you so so so much for this request, Anon! It is honestly fantastic and has been my favourite for some time now, though it took me a long time to finish it just how I wanted it. I hope you can forgive the delay! ❤️❤️❤️

WORD COUNT — 2,071

Masterlist

Before you first met Alfie Solomons, you had already listened to plenty of rumours about the man. The other soldiers were apparently too excited to welcome a nurse as charming as yourself in the trenches and so they painted a picture of their captain that was… less than favourable. Granted, the first time you actually met the man, it wasn’t really an introduction you would expect.

It was right after Alfie’s 46th Division defended the canal north of Bellenglise and the small hospital you had set up was full of soldiers that demanded immediate attention. While the doctor rushed to help the more complicated cases, you were tasked with stitching Alfie’s insufferable person back together. To be frank, he did nothing on his end to make the process easier:

“Please stop moving, soldier,” you asked time and again, trying to clean the gunshot wound to the best of your abilities.

It was a through and through, but Alfie was losing a lot of blood and his attitude wasn’t helping.

“It ain’t that serious,” he grunted, his voice hoarse and tired. “I can finish it myself.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” you scoffed and finally managed to get the wound clean enough to start closing him up.

He reached for you as soon as you made the first stitch, though, and that almost made you drop the needle.

“Stop it!” you swatted his hand away and Alfie barked out a laugh. “What is the matter with you, soldier?!”

“Captain, actually, yeah…”

“Captain or not, hold bloody still!”

Your fingers were slippery with his own blood and you cursed under your breath, thoroughly done with Alfie’s lack of cooperation. It was almost like he didn’t want to make it out alive.

“What’s your name?” He grinned at you and you rolled your eyes, determined to finish the stitching whether the captain liked it or not.

“Y/N,” you huffed angrily. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Right.” He laughed at you again and you noticed him then giving you a once over as you crouched by his side to get a better access to his thigh.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, fuck’s sake!” you muttered to yourself, taken aback with his attitude.

“Ah, that’s very unladylike of ya, innit?”

“Will you shut up!”

He chuckled once more and you looked at him in disbelief. Never before had you ever had a bleeding patient, with a gunshot wound among other injuries, that would giggle while being operated on.

“Are you quite finished?” you hissed and finally managed to finish the job. You figured the scar would be worse than usual, but really… He would only have himself to blame for your poor stitchwork.

“Naah…” Alfie finally quieted down, but when you got up to clean the large gash on his cheek, he grabbed your wrist again. Hard. “Don’t trouble yourself on my account, luv,” he said, seriously this time. “Go on. Help the others.”

Only looking at him now you noticed how pale he was getting and how hard his other hand was crutching the side of the hospital bed. It suddenly became very clear to you what had really been going on. He was going into shock.

“All right,” you lied swiftly and stepped away from him to give the impression you would leave him alone.

He was going into shock, or had been for some time, in which case the man’s willpower was honestly incredible. Nevertheless, this must have been the reason for his strangeness and so leaving him alone wouldn’t be an option—though the chances of you getting closer to that biting wolf of a man, in all of his contentious state, would prove quite a challenge.

“Are you sure, soldier?” you asked as you cleaned your hands and reached into your bag to retrieve a syringe.

“Yeah, go on now,” he grunted and closed his eyes, which was just what you needed.

Taking advantage of the element of surprise, you firmly pressed his arm to the bed and inserted the needle straight into the vein. He shouted at you, which was thoroughly ignored in all the commotion in the tent, and you smiled triumphantly as mere moments later his eyes glazed, his grip on your arm lessened, and the wrinkles around his eyes smoothed.

“When you choose to die, Captain, it won’t be on my watch,” you said to him as he drifted off to morphine-induced slumber.

The dose wasn’t big and so you moved swiftly to clean the rest of Alfie’s wounds, this time undisturbed, and finished with a small dose of intravenous fluids to help fight the shock.

You moved on to help the others in need of medical attention, though you checked on the captain from time to time during your shift. When he finally woke up, it was close to midnight. You were dead on your feet by that time, doing your best to stay alert and failing. Fortunately, the other nurse would soon wake to take over the night shift.

You were making your final rounds around the tent, when you saw Alfie stir uncomfortably on his bed. You made your way towards him, expecting more fight and complaining.

“Fuck!” was the first thing Alfie uttered, earning him quiet chuckles from the soldiers on the neighbouring beds.

He shot you an angry look, one you thoroughly ignored as you inspected his wounds and pressed your hand to his forehead to check for fever.

“I told you,” you said smugly. “You’re not dying on my watch, soldier.”

“Alfie,” he grumbled. “‘S my name.”

“Oh, I know who you are.” You moved your hand away. “Everyone knows what your unit did this morning, Captain. There’s talk of honourable discharge around.”

Alfie scoffed as he tended to do, though you couldn’t really see why. Only then a thought occurred to you that perhaps he didn’t want to go back to England at all, in which case you started to wonder what fate could possibly be worse than war.

“Is it jail time you’re facing?” you whispered to him.

For the second time that evening Alfie looked at you with so much anger that it almost frightened you. He then nodded silently and so did you, still unable to look away. The man was certainly fascinating.

It wasn’t unheard of to mobilise the criminals just as much as the rest of British society, though you wondered… What else did Alfie Solomons do for the army that they had made him a captain?

“I’ve seen them go free before,” you said to him then and smiled at his confusion. “But don’t do anything stupid, Captain. I worked hard on these stitches.”

He shook his head and his smirk only got cheekier when you shot a discerning look at the stitches on his face.

“What?” he asked. “Afraid I won’t be as handsome with a mark like this?”

You rolled your eyes once more at his antics and shook your head instead of an answer.

“Nah, don’t worry, luv,” he teased. “I’ll grow a beard.”

You couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his optimism. Criminal or not, you had to admit the man was funny and, as it were, humour in the trenches was generally hard to come by.

“Goodnight, soldier,” you concluded your talk, trying your best not to play favourites and not to linger.

“Yeah, goodnight,” he replied softly, though the playful smirk never left his lips.

When you finally came back home, it took you a while to get used to living instead of just surviving. You had stayed with your unit until the very end, for which you received a medal, but scarcely any praise. Actually, it surprised you more than it should that you and countless other women who had served were expected to just come back to being wives and mothers as if the war never happened.

One thing you also had trouble forgetting was your captain. You wondered often what happened to Alfie after he was sent back home and if he really was forced to serve his time. You had half a mind to go look for him, though it came as no surprise that he found you first.

You went out with your friends to a club and since the week you have had was as tough as they came, you got a bit tipsy after just two drinks. While your girlfriends quickly found dance partners and got whisked away to the dancefloor, you stayed by the bar and tried to sober up on tonic water. That was when a familiar gravelly voice exclaimed:

“Now, you’re a sight for sore eyes to be sure, luv.”

You turned around only to be faced with a very much changed Captain Solomons, though you noticed at once that the cheeky smirk stayed exactly the same.

“Hello, Captain.” You didn’t even have to pretend to be happy to see him; the giddy nervousness in your belly was hint enough.

“Shh…” Alfie took a step closer to you. “They don’t know that about me in these parts, right,” he explained.

“Fine,” you agreed and took a sip of your drink to occupy yourself with something other than observing the man. “The beard suits you, I’ll admit,” you offered, though what really interested you most were the two crown tattoos on his hands.

You wondered if they were there on the account of his time on the inside or… was he perhaps back to his criminal activities.

“Yeah, they all think so,” Alfie grumbled and you looked him in the eye only to find him having watched you carefully the entire time.

“So…” You smiled nervously.

“So… Out of all the clubs in this city, luv, ya decide to waltz into mine… Now, that to me sounds like good luck, if I ever had one.”

That… you had to admit was unexpected. Your eyebrows rose as you took another look around, this time taking everything in.

“Yours?” you asked.

“Hm.”

Alfie was even closer now and your smile grew wider when you noticed his eyes darted to the ringfinger of your left hand.

“Right, luv, I don’t know if ya know that about me, yeah, but my sorry arse is very accident-prone these days,” he grumbled, and even though his tone was as low and seemingly angry as you remembered, there was that twinkle in his eyes that suggested quite the opposite.

“Oh, is it?” You nodded and took another sip of your drink. “Well, what’s to be done about you, Mr. Solomons?”

“Nah, don’t like that either,” he shook his head and motioned for the bartender to refill your glass. He did so at once, obviously more than eager to keep his employer happy.

“Don’t like what?”

“Call me by my name, luv.”

You chuckled at his directness; so refreshing after what you were used to from everyone else in London.

“Well, Alfie, I could prescribe some painkillers…”

“Or you could come work for me,” he interrupted, obviously too impatient to let your mind go in any other direction than his expressed wishes. “Hm. What they let ya do these days, luv? Midwifery, that sorta stuff? I could pay ya double and let you use an actual scalpel once in a while.”

Your eyes went wide at that statement since being a midwife was exactly what you were forced to do after the war. It wasn’t something you exactly hated, but it wasn’t a dream job either.

“I won’t ask how you know that,” you said then and, to your further surprise, that only amused him.

“Yeah, know lots of things, don’t I.” Alfie’s intense gaze was again focused only on you. You realised then just how much you enjoyed the attention.

“And yet you had to check if I was married,” you teased, since enjoyment or not, the man was entirely too presumptuous.

“Hm.” Alfie grunted at that, the meaning of which wasn’t entirely clear, but his smirk was enough to make you feel like the winner of your argument.

“I wanna see you again,” he finally yielded, and so you put down your glass and reached for his hand to let him know the feeling was very much mutual.

“As you wish,” you said. “But you better not make a habit of employing all your girlfriends, Mr. Solomons, or I’ll—”

Alfie didn’t have the patience to hear the rest of that little threat, though. He leaned in to kiss you and you let him, all the fight leaving you as soon as you felt his lips on yours.

Here is my taglist, feel free to send an ask if you would like to be added!  ❤️

[today-in-wwi]

Battle of the St Quentin Canal

Men of the 46th Division pictured on the banks of the St Quentin Canal after their victory.

September 29 1918, Bellenglise--The fourth and final hammer blow of the Allied offensives in late September fell on the Hindenburg Line behind the St Quentin Canal.  The main attack was to be undertake by the Australians, but after months of hard fighting they were exhausted, and they were reinforced by an American corps.  During the rapid advance on August 8, plans for the sector were captured by a tank officer.  While somewhat out of date, they were still extraordinarily detailed and allowed the Allied bombardment to hit its targets with pinpoint accuracy.  Despite this, and extensive tank support, the Australians and Americans were quickly bogged down.  The rolling barrage started too far away and advanced too quickly (in an effort not to hit survivors of a failed trench raid who may still have been in no-man’s-land).

However, further to the south, the 46th Division had a stunning success.  In what they thought would be a purely diversionary attack, they crossed the canal using equipment salvaged from cross-Channel passenger ferries an hour after the Americans attacked, and took the Germans completely by surprise.  Private George Waters recalled:

The men were on top of the Germans before they knew what was happening.  A corporal, Crutchley, suddenly came to a German machine gun post protecting the bridge and he shot the German crew down before they could get their guns into action.

They were able to secure the bridge before the Germans had a chance to set off the demolition charges, and more troops streamed over (while still others swam across with the help of life belts). 

By the end of the day, the 46th Division had advanced three miles, taking the bulk of the Hindenburg Line in their sector.  A single regiment took over 4200 PoWs themselves.  Following up on this success, by the end of the next day over 30 miles of the Hindenburg Line were in Allied hands, with only one German reserve line in between them and open country beyond.

Today in 1917: British Victory at Ramadi Today in 1916: Romania Launches Last Attack into Transylvania Today in 1915: Haig Blames Sir John French for Failures at Loos Today in 1914: Belgian Cyclist Saboteurs Return to Antwerp; There, German Artillery Destroys Forts’ Magazines

Sources include: David Stevenson, With Our Backs to the Wall; Nick Lloyd, Hundred Days.

[ontaimelaterre]

Voici des restes d’une bande d’androïdes en fuite. Ils ont certainement passé la nuit autour d’un feu de camp même si c’est inutile mais cela vient certainement de leur besoin de nous ressembler. Nous avions peur que l’intelligence artificielle prenne le pouvoir et c’est ce qui s’est passé quand les robots sont devenus plus autonome et plus intelligent que les humains. Au passage merci à Google et à Dyson qui se sont surpassés sur ce coup-là. Nos serviles robots ont pris le pouvoir mais c’était sans compter sur les ressources de l’être humain. Son besoin de libert��, sa capacité à survivre, même enchainé ? Non, rien de tout ça, on n’est pas dans un Disney. Nos chères intelligences artificielles ont sous-estimé notre capacité à tout détruire. Ils n’ont pas pris leçon du passé, il n’aura fallu que trois cents ans à l’homme depuis le début de l’ère industrielle pour organiser la sixième extinction. C’est nous, bande de boîte de conserves qui avons anéanti plus de 75 % des espèces vivantes sur cette planète. C’est nous qui avons rendu l’air si irrespirable et qui avons épuisé pratiquement toutes nos ressources de telle sorte que notre espèce elle-même est menacée. C’est comme ça que, depuis qu’on a repris le pouvoir, nous les traquons sans relâche. L’ironie de l’histoire c’est que c’est notre sursaut de conscience qui nous a poussé à abandonner les énergies fossiles et à développer des énergies dites propres qui leur a donné l’autonomie nécessaire a l’indépendance. _____________________________________________ #feu #fire #syfy #robot #google #dyson #humain #fiction #poubelle #wasted #trash #planetearth #pictures #photo #art #nature #environnement #pollution #naturelovers #earth #ecology #ecologie #recycled #recyclage #recycling #recyclingart #naturephotography #photography #photographer #travelphotography (à Bellenglise) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsTBx6AnsI1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dq9lbwle81ar

[angel-sweet]

And suddenly, 🌈! #aerial #aerialbeauty #aerialphotography #agameofdrone #dailyoverview #dji #djiglobal #djimavic2pro #drone #drone_countries #droneart #dronebois #dronegear #dronelife #dronephotography #dronepointofview #droneporn #drones #dronestagram #fpv #fromwhereidrone #gameofdronez #instadrone #instagood #quadcopter #skypixel #twenty4sevendrones #rainbow #nofilter #countryside (à Bellenglise) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEU8AepKNdo/?igshid=1j8zxcgjez7rw

[traficalert-hautsdefrance]

[DIRECT/TRAFIC] 09:59 #A26 Piéton sur chaussée FIN ALERTE / #Aisne (#Bellenglise) +sur http://dlvr.it/QnbV36

[thisdayinwwi]

Oct 4 1918 in WWI

October 4 1918 Battle of the St Quentin Canal, war photographer David McLellan, takes this photo, IWM Q 9525, of the shelters on the banks of the canal where is was crossed by the 137th Brigade, 46th Division on 29th September 1918. 

Oct 4 1918 IWM Q 9526 “Horses going to be watered. This ground was covered by the 30th American and 5th Australian Divisions during the battle at 29 September 1918. Near Bellicourt”

IWM Q 9610 - “Mules tethered in the abandoned trenches of the Hindenburg Line near Bellenglise, 4 October 1918.“

4 October 1918-10-04

[thisdayinwwi]

Oct 9 1918 IWM Q 9533 "A damaged wayside crucifix near Bellenglise" October 9 1918 by McLellan, David (Second Lieutenant) (Photographer) Production date 1918-10-09

[thisdayinwwi]

Oct 4 1918 IWM (Q 9815) "German brick and concrete pillbox in the Hindenburg Line in use as an Royal Engineers signal office... outside entrance is a wicker-basket used for carrying homing-pigeons... Bellenglise" October 4 1918 by David McLellan 1918-10-04 https://t.co/RrxsA1ReTY https://t.co/6HLIWnQE4X http://twitter.com/ThisDayInWWI/status/1180165688893165568

[ontaimelaterre]

Je suis tombé sur l’œuvre d’un artiste !!! _____________________________________________ #bouteille #bottle #plastique #lost #perdu #plastic #zeroplastic #zerodechet #poubelle #wasted #trash #planetearth #pictures #photo #art #nature #environnement #pollution #naturelovers #earth #ecology #ecologie #recycled #recyclage #recycling #recyclingart #naturephotography #photography #photographer #travelphotography (à Bellenglise) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsTBBs4HF1b/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12vwmeac6knu0

[ontaimelaterre]

Quant tu jeté une bouteille à la mer il y a des chance qu’elle traverse le monde. Si tu la jeté dans une forêt elle traversera seulement les siècles !!! _____________________________________________ #bouteille #bottle #biere #lost #perdu #foret #forest #zerodechet #poubelle #wasted #trash #planetearth #pictures #photo #art #nature #environnement #pollution #naturelovers #earth #ecology #ecologie #recycled #recyclage #recycling #recyclingart #naturephotography #photography #photographer #travelphotography (à Bellenglise) https://www.instagram.com/p/BsTA_mWnUlg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1s4nge9zo7x49

[traficalert-hautsdefrance]

[DIRECT/TRAFIC] 09:59 #A26 Piéton sur chaussée / #Aisne (#Bellenglise) +sur http://dlvr.it/QnbTzP