La Vie En Rose for 2005 September 6 (entry 1)

(12) Tue Sep 06 2005 11:47 PST From Flanders and other Fields: Memoirs of the Baroness de T'Serclaes, M.M. : To relieve the pressure, the King gave the order to open the sluice-gates at Nieuport and let in the sea so that it flooded the area--about two miles wide wnad thrity long--between the Yser and teh Mixmude-Nieuport railway embankment to which the troops now fell back. The water came in so slowly that men cursed in in their impatience, and the enemy at some points waded through the rising waters to take some of the villages along the line, but the sea won. It reached a maximum hieght of four feet, and saved a tiny sliver of Belgium from German occupation. The surface of this immense artifical lagoon was broken by trees and telegraph poles, and on it drifted the corpses of soldiers, fish, and animals, together with helmets, empty cartridge-cases, and food-tins.

Comments:

Posted by s at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:14

looking over my k.hodges notes...specifically: the part where inglis tells the swh transport unit they're a bunch of whores (of course, using some victorian euphemism)-- i think you should cast judi dench instead of maggie smith. the latter would make a better cicely hamilton.

also, problem to contemplate later: where does serbia end? technically one of my units could be serbian though they fight in russia/roumania...............and the bolsheviks attempt to claim them as their own...it's a tricky thing

and technically.......there's a british unit fighting with the serbians (you should read my summary-- this was absurd. it became en vogue to fund your own military unit...and then make yourself commander of it...the ones in Russia/Turkey/Poland/Roumania-- under Capt L were fitted with Rolls Royces...and from some of the SWH diaries (lilias grant, yvonne fitzroy)...the women were quite taken by these dashing (ahem, wealthy) soldiers. [as a useless aside, the new kanye song "gold digger" is coming to mind right now] you should throw one of those units in...it'll give "curious george" someone to relate to...so this isn't just a "women's movement"

Posted by s at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:20

p.s. if you glorify inglis....though i must admit she deserves it...i will write a book about the other side

about how victorianism rears it's ugly head on the battle front in defense of my girls

and about why the women's movement is sometimes so disappointing: high stakes catfights.

i recommend making her a complicated character so i can do other things with my life.

Posted by rachel at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:25

aren't you jumping to conclusions? esp. considering the nature of my book, which centers on something Inglis would have highly disapproved of. tho I greatly admire her, I'm not going going to blindly glorify her... just wait till you read... although wouldn't that solve the problem of *what* to do with you life? :P

Posted by rachel at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:27

PS don't you think Maggie Smith can tell a bunch of tarts what's what? hahaha *runs away*

Posted by s at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:29

that hurts rachel. i want a divorce.

Posted by rachel at Tue Sep 06 2005 22:30

Oh, Stacy, I was so kidding.

Posted by s at Tue Sep 06 2005 23:17

those are some beastly footnotes you just sent me.

Posted by rachel at Wed Sep 07 2005 05:41

they're not nearly as bad as they will be.

I thought the SWH in Russia was serving the division made from Serbian A-H subjects who deserted to the Russian army?

Posted by s at Wed Sep 07 2005 07:09

they were in britain first with the prime minister. russia later. refugees perhaps? we should look into this. def russian. poor kids.

Posted by s at Wed Sep 07 2005 08:14

that was meant to say: def not russian. yah i fail

Posted by rachel at Wed Sep 07 2005 16:29

I think I remember reading an article or a book intro or something about them meeting the prime minister, but it was while they were in england, on their way to fight in macedonia with the rest of the serb army, after being in russia. cause Inglis refused to leave till they evacuated the serb division, too, right? and that's how here unit ended up in macedonia. that's the impression I got from reading daylight in a dream, so I could be waaaaay off.

Posted by rachel at Wed Sep 07 2005 16:30

**how her unit ended up in macedonia (after she died)