| An Anniversary 06:55 - Aug 22 with 782 views | Churchman |
This month marks the 110 anniversary of Britain’s entry into World War One. An event that touched everyone then and in many ways everyone now. We live with its consequences and lessons, for example Ukraine trying to use technology to overcome numbers.
On this day 110 years ago, the French army lost more men killed in a single day than any other in its modern history. 27,000. More than at Waterloo, Verdun or British/Empire troops at the Somme.
It was part of a little known action to us called ‘the battle of the frontiers’. German was attempting the hammer and anvil strategy of the Schlieffen Plan, sweeping through France. The French had mobilised five armies, east to west. They were not co-ordinated and the French operated a rigid command structure. They acted totally independently. They wore red trouser too under their blue coats. Stylish, but not exactly camouflage.
In one instance a general went mad and ran off to fight the Germans on his own. That was the end of him, but without him the soldiers didn’t know what to do. 7000 were encircled and killed in a small area.
At this time the German army was more flexible and able to inflict huge losses, but despite this and the cruel losses the French suffered, the Germans were slowed and eventually stopped at the far better known in this country Battle of the Marne.
So why is this battle not more widely known? It is in France and when it comes down to it, some stories are more ‘newsworthy’ in different places than others.
[Post edited 22 Aug 2024 7:25]
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| An Anniversary on 07:27 - Aug 22 with 704 views | Buhrer |
And that didnt make them stop and think? Perhaps theres a reason the wilful and ignorant butchery of youth, doesnt get talked about as much as say, heroic sacrifice and cheerful tommys. Lest we forget, they still want our young for the next one. |  | | |
| An Anniversary on 07:31 - Aug 22 with 686 views | chicoazul |
And it was all because a man called Archie Duke was hungry and shot an ostrich. [Post edited 22 Aug 2024 7:59]
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| An Anniversary on 07:43 - Aug 22 with 664 views | Churchman |
| An Anniversary on 07:31 - Aug 22 by chicoazul |
And it was all because a man called Archie Duke was hungry and shot an ostrich. [Post edited 22 Aug 2024 7:59]
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Actually all because a man with a pointy helmet and silly moustache wanted ‘his’ empire and ‘his’ war. | | | |
| An Anniversary on 08:03 - Aug 22 with 597 views | Churchman |
| An Anniversary on 07:27 - Aug 22 by Buhrer |
And that didnt make them stop and think? Perhaps theres a reason the wilful and ignorant butchery of youth, doesnt get talked about as much as say, heroic sacrifice and cheerful tommys. Lest we forget, they still want our young for the next one. |
Indeed - lest we forget.
No, not really. The German army was sweeping down like a tide and in 1914 and France was getting overwhelmed. Tactics and organisation was out of date and knowledge of how to conduct a war with conscripts and new technologies limited.
The point about what we focus on is interesting. We tend to focus on our own and within that only certain things. A relation of mine died at the Siege of Kut in 1916. An action few know about because it was a defeat in Iraq. How many people know how many Germans died at the battle of the Somme (160,000 out of 500,000 casualties)? All of them human beings as much as you and me.
Maybe it’s a numbers thing. How do you get your head around slaughter on that scale? I know I can’t, beyond matching numbers to football crowds. | | | |
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