Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The Smoke At The Middle Of The Day

I borrowed part of the title today from a novel I finished up over the weekend, The Smoke At Dawn, by Jeff Shaara, which tells the story of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaign in the American Civil War, both from the point of view of the commanders and the men in the lines. It seemed oddly appropriate for today, finishing off this series from Victoria Day.

The cannon salute to Queen Victoria certainly is loud. Before they begin, officers on site set everyone back at a given distance, and caution that the noise will be considerable. I imagine the gun crews use ear plugs.






36 comments:

  1. I've heard the one gun salute at the old Fremantle prison William and that was loud enough.. this four gun salute would have been pretty impressive to witness. Excellent 'shots' :)

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  2. Wow. Your photos make us smell and hear them!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>

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  3. Ditto the last three comments. How are your ears now ?!

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  4. Love that series of smoky photos. Must be an amazing spectacle.

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  5. Well, and I'm sure that got ol' Victoria's attention with all that racket. :-)

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  6. Could you imagine the noise of a battlefield?!
    Jane x

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  7. @Grace: thanks!

    @Cloudia: emphasis on hearing!

    @Chieftess: it's a good tradition to take in.

    @Stuart: not ringing, fortunately!

    @Denise: it is.

    @Revrunner: I would think so.

    @Jane and Chris: I'm sure a lot of artillery crews back in the day went deaf... assuming they survived.

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  8. wow! i know i would NOT appreciate that noise much!

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  9. You captured all that smoke very well. I can imagine how loud the sound was. EW!

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  10. A lot of smoke!
    Great shots, William!

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  11. Those are well timed action shots, William!

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  12. They do create a lot of smoke and I bet it smells of gun powder.

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  13. Wow! I think I would stay well back from the action.

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  14. @Tex: I tend to have sensitive hearing, but I can go with this much easier than I can the sounds from a DJ booth.

    @EG: it certainly was loud!

    @Luis: thanks!

    @Karl: it does send up a lot of smoke, particularly because it comes all close together, as opposed to Remembrance Day, when there's a set time between the blasts.

    @Linda: thank you.

    @Jan: thanks!

    @Sharon: it does.

    @Judy: I do notice some people tend to move even further back after the first barrage.

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  15. Great shots, no pun intended...

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  16. Lol, yes VP got in there before me. Next year you should make a soundtrack! :-)

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  17. Lovely photo! Got to be deafening!

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  18. @VP: the pun is welcome!

    @Ciel: I can film it next year.

    @RedPat: quite so.

    @Cheryl: It is.

    @Norma: yes!

    @Jen: thanks!

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  19. Great shots!
    I should read this book. One of my ancestors was at Chickamauga.

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  20. Your book sounds intriguing. I'll bet the men by cannons are using ear plugs.

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  21. My knowledge of the American Civil War is sadly inadequate. Those are excellent photographs, old chap!

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  22. I have to bring ear plugs to the movie house. The plugs might not work, here.

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  23. Nice. I like the guns immersed in smoke.

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