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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"No 15 Cricket Ball Grenades" destined for Gallipoli ?

Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It has come as a great surprise to the le maire & commune of Beaumont-Hamel, not to mention to officers & members of the Hawthorne Ridge Crater Association, to hear that "stewardship" of the craters site is (apparently) controlled by @cwgc grokipedia.com/page/Hawthor... - which is "news" to >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Obviously apologies for rubbish photo, but a tiny subject. Photo taken on forecourt of Buckingham Palace. Man has just been awarded MC & Bar per London Gazette 18/9/1918, but what does ribbon bar show, - and hence when was photo taken (1918 - 19 ?). Man's service medal entitlement was 14-15 Trio.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The IWGC schedule for Andrew's headstone shows a pattern 1212/1D, which is below. I've never seen the badge on his headstone (a cwgc replacement ?). The inscription on the stone cost Andrew's wife 12s & 6p (61 pence decimal) but £40:88 in 2026 prices. Suggest to send a copy of the headstone >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Lt Francis Campion EARL 12th York & Lancs Regt researched for a future zerohourzday.com Before WW1 British officer files were released to the PRO (now TNA) late 1990's direct nok could apply (& pay) for a "search & report" by the MoD. When the files began to be released & researchers >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Just logged onto "Trash Nothing" www site to give something away & pretty "surprised" to see 3 ads requesting free things by a "collector". Old British banknotes + one for British & foreign coins, & this one for medals. Surprising to see such a basic error by "a collector"😒

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Maricourt, a few days ago. This is where the British & French lines met prior to jumping off on the morning of 1st July 1916. The very southern & "relatively successful" right flank of first day of the 1916 Battle of The Somme.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Not here > www.ranker.com/list/famous-... but not difficult to work out😇 IYK,YK IYKall,YKall👍

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The commemorations in Etreux British Cemetery are very different from a "normal" IWGC cemetery. The cemetery plan explains.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Dantzig Alley BC, Mametz, two days ago. The village & adjacent trench of the same name were an objective of 7th Division 1/7/1916. The village & trench were captured on the day by 22nd Bn Manchester & 1st Battalion South Staffs Regts of 91st Brigade. (Mametz Wood is distant on right of photo).

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Cemetery yesterday. "The worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history." 19th-20th July 1916; Australian 5th Division & the British 61st Division diversional attack(*) on Fromelles. (* Somme, 1916). For a very modern cemetery it fits >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Courcelles-le-Compte Necropole Nationelle today. 275 Unknown men in the mass grave & 39 named headstoned. All fatalities between 27/9/1914 & 4/10/1914. The memorial was inaugurated 7/10/1923.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Somme today. Probably 5ft diameter & maybe 20ft deep. Signs of substantial timberwork close to bottom. Off the beaten track & authorities aware. Someone has mentioned ladders & rope, but I'm not getting involved😲

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Always try to visit this chap when I'm in France. This is the tiny communal cemetery at Ablaizevelle today, - the only IWGC burial in the cemetery, & no reference to him in the cwgc public database.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Longueval Road & nearby Bernafay Wood Cemeteries yesterday afternoon. The frontage of Bernafay is still fenced off (has been for ages now) & local talk is that it may be being preserved as a crime scene after the last fatal car crash there (notorious bit of road). Anybody know ?

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Rancourt Military Cemetery, today. A "simple" small cemetery design by Noel Ackroyd Rew. The first three deaths were on Christmas Day 1916, with burials continuing till 11/3/1917. The bulk of the 93 WW1 burials (of whom 20 are unknown) were from 30/8/ till 13/9/1918, & there are also one >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

French Necropole Nationale de Rancourt & La Chapelle de Souvenir Francais this afternoon. 8,566 burials; the largest French cemetery on the Somme. Blisteringly hot day, - very uncomfortable walking.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Statue du Marecal Foch today at Bouchavesnes-Bergen. French Sector, Battle of The Somme, 1916.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

What would the lads have said🤔 AIF Burial Ground, Grass Lane from the south-west, this afternoon. The nearest turbines are in No Man's Land as it was in the winter of 1916-17. "Farms" like this are popping up all over the Somme & Pas de Galais.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

"Unusual" wreath seen today at the McCrae's Battalion Great War Memorial in Contalmaison.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Photographed yesterday, - Somme. Note carriage plugs in all four (fuses not yet fitted). (Trainer not for sale, - for scale only).

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

this is where Stuart Henderson Hastie's "D17 Dinnaken" ended up ditched late on the 15th. It was used for a time as a Brigade HQ, as seen here.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Two interesting photos I took yesterday; the "Rideau (earth bank) des Filoires" just north of Delville Wood, by the Longueval to Flers road. This feature is important because of the first day of the Battle of Flers - Courcelette 15/9/1916. The reason why this "Rideau" is significant is that >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Liverpool & Manchester "Pals" Battalions Memorial at Montauban yesterday. The Pals liberated the village 1/7/1916 & the memorial always seems to be well supported locally. Surrounding hedge is always pretty neat, but some attention from a stone mason wouldn't go amiss. >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Gordon Dump Cemetery this afternoon, - nicely framed by the scorched stubble fields. Somme farmers seem to be watering sparingly, probably due to low water tables.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Tank Corps Memorial & the Australian "Windmill" Memorial at Pozieres today. It was trying to rain, but not enough to even wet the road, because the ground was so hot the water was evaporating immediately.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

"Mucky Farm" (Mouquet Ferme) Pozieres this afternoon; the scene of intense Australian actions during WW1. The wartime farm was left (north) of the track, where the trees left distant are. Post war the ground was riddled with German underground workings & was unsafe to build on.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

16th (Irish) Division Memorial & Guillemont WW1 French Memorial today. The Irish memorial railings have been cleaned ready for repainting by Western Front Services Ltd. westernfrontservices.com

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

"Ghastly by day, Ghostly by night, The rottenest place on the Somme." "High Wood" (Le Bois des Fourcaux) this evening.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Two things always strike me at Bailleul Communal Cemetery & Extension; the shear size of it, but especially the fact that so many of the headstones butt up against each other.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Gordon Dump Cemetery Somme. 1st photo last month, & 2nd an explanation of a photo I've been looking for for 40 + YEARS😲 The horrible little entrance is an early 1950's imposition. No2 shows where the original entrance was built, BUT CAN I FIND AN IMAGE OF IT😱 Do you know of one ?

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery, Belgium. Has anybody any information(*) about the genesis & use of this cemetery 1914-15, & / or ever found any reference to any man / men being exhumed elsewhere & reburied here ? (* not from the cwgc website).

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Peronne Road Cemetery is one of many IWGC WW1 cemeteries which contained "ghost burials" at the end of the war. Some were recognised as such & the "memorials" removed (such as here). Others were not, & some which cwgc know about they are in a state of denial about. >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I'm reminded of the rostrum at motor racing events, - pints of good champaign tossed over ... well, tossers.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Knowing SFA about the "spitting game" I'm ever so pleased to have Marmalade Man explain to me & his mate the head of the world spitting game that stamping on your opponent's heal isn't at all naughty. Cut that bloke in half & like a stick of Blackpool rock it'd say "100% corrupt fecker"😱

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Connaught Cemetery Thiepval, 29/6/2026.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I once nearly bought a house in Epsom, Surrey, which was circa 80 yards from what was my favorite pub at the time. THANK GOD I DIDN'T😱

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Anybody else having problems with TNA "Discovery" advanced search ? - I've been getting this error message all day😒

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Here are some 2025 notes I made about 41st Div Memorial at Flers. You will see that a formal commemoration finally took place 15/5/1932.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Frankly hilarious, but sadly the man or woman on the Clapham omnibus will read it, & believe it.

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

VERY nice photo👍 Here is a map showing where Rue de l'Abbaye is (as of 1916), though I can't work out where the cameraman actually was. Can anybody work it out ?

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

3/8/1916 French Lieut de Commarque of the Dépot de chevaux blessés at Airaines, Somme, wrote to the WO to enquire of his friend Major Thomas H Guest of the 13th Bn York & Lancs Regt; "Sir,I had good acquaintance with Captain F T/J Guest 14th Ser Batt (2ND Barnsley)York and Langs [sic] Regt >cont>

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

I've now seen this image posted 3,872 times & it's giving me nightmares😱 That woman would be dangerous with a butter knife, let alone a huge axe😲

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Tom Tulloch-Marshall @sommephantom.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

This is 47th Div's memorial at High Wood before subsidence forced its dismantling & remodelling.

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