Tag Archives: The Blues

15 September 1914

On this day, Calderon was thrown from his horse at the riding school.  He was quite a short man (five foot nine and a half), slightly built.  The horse tossed him against a wall and his back was very badly … Continue reading

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Things

There is no documentation of what Calderon did between now and 15 September. Presumably, however, he had to set about equipping himself for active service.  Officers had to buy some of their equipment, clothes, and food themselves; they even had … Continue reading

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9 September 1914

On this day the B.E.F. began to cross the Marne.  Momentously, an emissary from Moltke had arrived the day before and now persuaded both von Kluck and von Bülow that they must retreat northeastwards or be encircled by the Allies … Continue reading

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Confusion, or subtlety?

From a hundred years on, it is difficult to make sense of Calderon’s new situation. If he was taking Hedley’s advice that the quickest way of getting to the Front was as a military interpreter, why was he continuing his … Continue reading

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‘The Godfather in War’

About now 1914, George Calderon went again to see his golfing acquaintance Coote Hedley. He turned up at his house at 9.30 in the evening, wearing his O.T.C. ‘reach-me-down’. However, as Hedley told Mrs Hedley, ‘even in that awful old … Continue reading

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