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I toured Verdun, and some of the other Somme sites in the early 70's, while I was stationed overseas. To look at the momuments, with the endless lists of the dead..it is humbling experience. It makes D-Day, and the American military cemetary, look like a minor skirmish.

Prior to that experience, I'd always failed to understand how the Brits allowed Hitler to come to power, when he could have been stopped early on quite easily. I used to ridicule Chamberlain's "peace in our time."

Once you realize that the Brits lost the better part of an entire generation in WW I, it gives context to their actions up till the outbreak of the 2nd WW.

I've also found it easy to laugh at jokes about used French military rifles from WWII being "almost new; only dropped once", or referring to "surrender monkeys."

However, I believe the French suffered casualties rivaling the English. An entire generation of brave men disappeared. I think this had something to do with French attitude to WWII, and that we may still see the effects in pacifist Europe today of the loss of almost an entire generation of brave fathers, brothers, husbands, and uncles during WWI.

Good points about the French. The country suffered terribly in WW I..horrific casualties. Don't know why it's not often discussed. It may well be a function of language. Look, here in the US, we still hear the occasional outcry about the cruelty of bombing German cities..the Dresden raid is an example...yet we cannot even comprehend that the USSR lost perhaps 20 million, if not more..at some level, the mind shuts down..refuses to compute..the scale is to great.

We've just finished honoring another D-Day anniversary. It's generally accepted that about 2,500 US troops were killed on that first day. Yet it is hardly ever mentioned that over 600 US troops were killed some 6 weeks before the invasion, during a training exercise to practice landings on the beaches...

I've also found it easy to laugh at jokes about used French military rifles from WWII being "almost new; only dropped once", or referring to "surrender monkeys."

Same here, until I read A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918. Phenomenal bravery and toughness on the part of the ordinary French soldier.

However, I believe the French suffered casualties rivaling the English.

French casualties were far worse than British. The official statistics are 1,697,800 French dead, or 4.29% of their total population, versus 994,138 British dead, or 2.19% of their total population. Adding British Empire forces (Canadians, Anzacs, South Africans, etc) brings their total to 1,225,914, still far behind the French.