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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 8:38 pm

Mike,

Given your comment re-azwrs.com, have you have read Elizabeth Hogan's review of A Review of the South African Campaign of 1879? Elizabeth is now talking to the Royal 'we', so I'm assuming she has delusions of grandeur. I can draw another conclusion, but I'll let others decide for themselves.

Another fascinating piece of information advanced in her review of the work was that the Prince Imperial of France 'was half-British.' A fact that actually astonished me, as his father was French and his mother was Spanish, I puzzled where the British half fits in! Unless Elizabeth failed fractions in mathematics, and is in fact referring to the Prince Imperial's maternal grandfather, William Kirkpatrick, who was a Scot. By my reckoning that would make the Prince Imperial's blood line to be one-eighth British at best! Family history is such a tangled web, I can only presume Elizabeth has unravelled something new in the Bonaparte tree.

John Y.

Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 9:28 am

Dear John

You enquire after my reading habits. Here is my general policy in respect of the internet.

I'm a very busy man and time is precious to me - so I am only able to find time to read writing of quality by good, honest, up-front people.

One has to be so careful with the internet - there are all sorts of bullies and front organizations operating on it. One never knows quite who is behind any one website, though it is true to say amateurish front organizations can sometimes be easy to spot.

So generally I don't read much from the internet. I think that covers the ground.

Regards as ever

Mike

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 8:08 am

Thanks Mike - missed your e-mail above on Friday as was on the road to Brecon at the time, and then discovered on Sat morning that I'd missed you by mins at the Museum.

Believe you and I were then en route to Cardiff to the Cup Final, so we appear to be tracking each other!

No doubt paths will cross at some point.

Cheers

Ed

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 11:44 am

Hi Ed

C'est la guerre. I tried anyway as I was passing through Brecon. Never mind.

Didn't you used to live in KZN? Or did I imagine it?

Oh and by the way I wasn't on the way to the Cup Final - wrong shaped ball for me !!

Did your team win?

Regards

Mike

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:30 pm

Oh - now I am confused - had you popped in to see me? The guy at the Museum said you'd just left as you'd come to see someone who was over from SA. Never connected you might mean me.

The slight Coanfusion may be between my elder brother and I - Stephen lives in Pietermaritzburg and works on the Natal Witness. So you may have come across his name. I did live in SA in the early 1980s myself - which is when I got interested in all matters A-Z - seems light years ago now.

It was also the fella in the Museum who said you'd got to the Cup Final in Cardiff. I assumed it was the roundball, so sorry for that. I was strictly neutral as I work for The FA, but took a mate of mine who's a West Ham fan. I'm still sympathising.

Cheers

Ed

Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 2:40 pm

Ed

That explains it. There's two of you! How coanvivial. Yes, I stopped off to see you, but it was no inconvenience as I was passing anyway, and when there was no reply to my last minute.com e-mail to you I knew it couldn't work as there was no opportunity to tell you to slip your book into your bag!!

Never mind. Next time.

Regards as ever

Mike

Posted: Fri May 19, 2006 12:48 pm

Ed:

Sorry 'bout that game Ed..you know there had to be a loser, eh? You had to be exhausted right? Er..we almost broke the tv when 'Pool banged in the tie at the 90th....One thing I see in my crystal ball is that Mr. Gerrard will be one of the greatest Englishmen to play the game AND most likely will be considered one of the greatest LIVERPOOL players of all time and if I may add gives another dimension to the word loyalty!...just had to get me US opinion in..... Wink

... and you know if anyone can come with a cramp-blocker in post 90 minute matches they'd be multiple millionaires!!!!.. Wink

... oh yeah my English friends I'm looking for a US/England FINAL soon!!! Alright, we can dream can't we? Tough for rooney...I wish him well...well on second thought I got to watch about that....OK fair play fair play!....

Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 5:58 am

And to get this right back to the topic again...

Mike, I got a copy of your book for my birthday today. I am looking forward to reading it. Just looking at the illustrations is enough to whet my appetite. I might be having a late night tonight, I'm sure I won't want to put it down. Wink

Dawn

Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 7:56 am

Dawn

Many Happy Returns of the Day. Razz

I hope you have a lovely day. Leave the book until tomorrow and go and have a good time in lovely NZ instead.

Regards as ever

Mike

Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 9:24 am

Mike

Thanks for the greetings.

It's cold and dark and wet here in lovely NZ - its curl-up-in-front-of-the-fire-with-a-good-book weather. I know just the book!

Dawn

Posted: Fri May 26, 2006 7:40 am

Mike

I'm about halfway through the book now and I must say that I'm impressed. You have that ability to describe the action so that the reader can feel like they are actually there in that dark and smoke-filled hospital as the soldiers hacked their way from one room to the next. Nothing like the portrayal in 'Zulu'. Rats in a hole is an apt description too. With some of the soldiers exiting the hospital from the front as it burned, it must have been like rats leaving a sinking ship. And you can imagine the indecision of the soldiers, to stay and burn to death or run and take their chances with the warriors outside. What a quandary. What would us armchair soldiers have done? Who knows. It's a miracle that any got out at all.

I look forward to the second half now. Although I can see a re-read is going to be necessary to absorb it all again.

Dawn

Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 2:06 pm

Dawn

Thank you. Tell all your friends!

Mike

Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 9:46 pm

Mike

I just did.

(mmmm...does that imply all my friends are on this forum? Oh dear, I have to get out more! Laughing

)

Dawn

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:21 am

Mike, are you out there? LWOTF has now received it's third reading here and I have a question. Is the Cpl Lyons in the narrative the same bloke as the Pvt Lyons in Appendix 2? I'm not trying to be picky, just trying to work out who were patients, combatant or otherwise.

Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2006 10:53 pm

Hello Bill,

They are two separate people:

a. 2-24/1441 Pte John Lyons was an Irishman from Co Clare. In Jan 1879 he had the best part of 20 years service behind him.

b. 25B/1112 Cpl John Jeremiah Lyons was from Trevethin, Monmouthshire. In Jan 79 Cpl L had 14/15 years service.

Regards

Mike