WW1 Pipes & Songs

[simong]

Remembrance Day tomorrow, 11th November.
I’ve been smoking my great grandfather’s old pipe, quite a bit lately. Wondering if any other forum members have any old wartime pipes that they’ll be smoking?

This old meerschaum, which still smokes lovely btw, dates from the First World War. He got it having returned home wounded, from Gallipoli.

Lately as well, I’ve had this song in my head. If you’re British & your grandparents were of a certain age, then you’d be familiar with this song. For the ones that made it back from the front, this was very much ‘their song’. John McCormack, the Irish tenor made it famous at the time but I’ve always liked this version by Jo Stafford.

Here’s a photo of Thomas Gardner (my great grandfather) en route to Gallipoli. In his right hand you can spot a short, slightly bent bulldog. He used to smoke Franklyn’s Twist & Ogdens St. Julian, in case anyones interested. So, there you go. Thought it might be nice to share some photos & stories of our forefathers this remembrance weekend. A good time to remember them.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Yep, a set of pristine circa 1914 Adolph Poseners!

 

[PaulRVA]

Just mine from the Gulf. I hope to find a WWI or WWII pipe soon.

 

[PaulRVA]

Remembrance Day tomorrow, 11th November.
I’ve been smoking my great grandfather’s old pipe, quite a bit lately. Wondering if any other forum members have any old wartime pipes that they’ll be smoking?

This old meerschaum, which still smokes lovely btw, dates from the First World War. He got it having returned home wounded, from Gallipoli.
View attachment 260288
Lately as well, I’ve had this song in my head. If you’re British & your grandparents were of a certain age, then you’d be familiar with this song. For the ones that made it back from the front, this was very much ‘their song’. John McCormack, the Irish tenor made it famous at the time but I’ve always liked this version by Jo Stafford.

Here’s a photo of Thomas Gardner (my great grandfather) en route to Gallipoli. In his right hand you can spot a short, slightly bent bulldog. He used to smoke Franklyn’s Twist & Ogdens St. Julian, in case anyones interested. So, there you go. Thought it might be nice to share some photos & stories of our forefathers this remembrance weekend. A good time to remember them.
View attachment 260298

Thanks for posting that!
I’ll have a toast for him tomorrow on our Veterans Day!

 

[jaingorenard]

Amazing that you still have the pipe, and this is a lovely post. A few years ago we did a trip to Thiepval and the Menim Gate which have many of my great, great-uncles names' inscribed on them.

Sadly, both my grandads' pipes got chucked when they died. Both fought in the Second World War. One was a flight engineer on Lancasters, and the other built landing strips behind enemy lines on the Solomon Islands. I know that my mum's father smoked St Bruno almost exclusively, and I actually got my first ever pouch of pipe tobacco based on what he smoked.

My favourite version of that tune is a French version, by the great Tino Rossi:

My grandfather Reg:



And bottom right in this photo with his plane and the rest of the crew (he flew in Q for Queenie and S for Sugar out of RAF Scampton):




My grandfather Sid:

 

[jaingorenard]

Here's Sid's dad (known as Herschel, Harry, or Mr Harris), who came from a small village near Warsaw. He came to the UK in 1901. We only know this for certain as he saw Queen Victoria's funeral. He left to avoid being made into cannon fodder in the Tsar's army. Here he is pictured in the uniform of the Royal Fusilier's (his battalion was known as the Royal Jew-siliers). He fought in the First World War but returned home to look after his children after his wife died. In his 90s he forgot English and only spoke entirely in Yiddish.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

Here’s an actual war time pipe, a D&P Spartan made to be sent over to the front in C Rations. It’s made from manzanita and has a maple army mount stem. Few of these survived the war. The “Genuine Briar” stamp is a bit of a fabrication.

 

[Santiago]

And I could certainly think
And I could certainly think
About the times when I looked at a pipe
In her blue smoke
About the times when I looked at a pipe
In her blue smoke

But I didn't think about them at all,
But I didn't think about them at all,
I just smoked a pipe
with bitter Turkish tobacco,
I just smoked a pipe
with bitter Turkish tobacco...

 

[mateusbrown]

My grandfather, my dad's dad, was in WWI. Born in 1895, shipped out in the U.S. Army to Europe in 1917 and returned the next year. He was in France in the Argonne Forest. I never got to meet him as he passed in 1966 a few years before I was born. By all accounts he was a good fellow. The story goes, that during the Great Depression, the county government went broke, and he was the only person in the county with any remaining financial means at that time, and he lent money to the county to function. When I was little, my grandma always said that I had certain mannerisms that were just like his. No pipes to inherit as he was into chewing tobacco, which I never took to although I do have a few books of his. I certainly would have loved to have known him.

 

[mateusbrown]

And I could certainly think
And I could certainly think
About the times when I looked at a pipe
In her blue smoke
About the times when I looked at a pipe
In her blue smoke

But I didn't think about them at all,
But I didn't think about them at all,
I just smoked a pipe
with bitter Turkish tobacco,
I just smoked a pipe
with bitter Turkish tobacco...

Love this song!

 

[Cloozoe]

Over There

 

[anotherbob]

Just mine from the Gulf. I hope to find a WWI or WWII pipe soon.
View attachment 260314

don't confuse the black thing for a pipe. Actually just reminded me of a pipe I saw that was carved to look like a pistol.

 

[Derby]

don't confuse the black thing for a pipe. Actually just reminded me of a pipe I saw that was carved to look like a pistol.

 

[kcghost]

I have great affection for mean men and women who served in the military. particularly during war time, Whether they smoked or not you to raise up and honor them. As the gentleman in the courtroom said, "Stand up, child, your father is passing".

 

[Santiago]

Love this song!

I listen to it more often than not when I am pipin'.