Posted on 06/30/2021 5:47:13 AM PDT by DFG
Incredible colourised photos from the Battle of the Somme have provided a glimpse into the brave sacrifice of British and Commonwealth troops ahead of tomorrow's 105th anniversary of the start of the horrific carnage.
In one picture, a German prisoner assisted wounded British solders as they made their way to a dressing station after they fought on Bazentin Ridge on July 19, 1916.
Another image showed Australian gunners who stripped off in the summer heat, serving a 9.2 howitzer during the Battle of Pozières which took place during the Battle of the Somme.
The torrential rain of October 1916 which brought an end to the British Somme offensive were brought to life in colour as horses were pictured drawing carriages through the mud.
The series of images were colourised by electrician Royston Leonard from Cardiff who was inspired by the courage of the troops in what was one of the bloodiest battles in human history, leaving a million men dead.
'I got the idea for this set after hearing stories about my grandfather who was there in World War One for almost four years,' said Royston.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Austria attacks Serbia in response to Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination. Russia, allied with Serbia, declares war on Austria. Germany, ascendant, could not let Austria fall to Russia. Germany declares war on Russia. France, allied with Russia, declares war on Germany. Great Britain could not afford Germany becoming the dominant power on the continent and, allied with France, declares war on Germany. After three months stalemate and trench warfare are the norm on the Western Front with no-one being able to achieve a breakthrough and no-one seeing any way out. It wasn’t until we poured in one half million doughboys in late 1917 that the tide was finally decisively turned.
To all I highly recommend Dan Carlin’s WWI podcast entitled Blueprint for Armageddon. It is absolutely epic.
Britain’s mistake was not doing a Brexit in 1914. Why did she care so much for the Continent, when she had her Empire. Where did this sudden love for France come from anyway, after they had been enemies for centuries.
The Royal Army performed very very well against Third World forces in the late twentieth century around the world (Kitchener of Khartoum, K of K, for example). But beginning with the Boer War I think its leadership was exposed as sclerotic, hidebound, and either unable or unwilling to adapt to new developing tactics and technologies. And In World War I that cost many many Commonwealth lives.
The Kaiser was a big talker. There’s no way Germany could match Britain’s Navy, not in a thousand years.
The Belle Epoque, the Edwardian Era, the late days of Victoria’s reign... the high point of European civilization. Then came WWI and thirty years of upheaval, then for Eastern Europe almost fifty years under the Soviet boot.
These are always battles of leaders, but the suffering is always upon the followers.
Why we continue to permit it keeps us in the role of followers…
The French Ambassador asked Britain to join France and was told no. He was astonished and told the British Cabinet that the Foreign Secretary had promised British support, and as a consequence, France had moved all its Atlantic fleet to the Med for action against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leaving France's Atlantic ports open to German naval attack.
This was the first time the Cabinet had heard of the Foreign Secretary's promises.
So, as a matter of honor, the British Cabinet voted to declare war the following morning.
With tragic results.
From "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", an Aussie anti-war song:
And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well. He shower'd us with bullets, And he rained us with shell.
And in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.
But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain. We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again.
The Pogues did a great version of that.
National World War I Museum and Memorial
There has been quite a bit more written in the past 2 decades due to more original source material having become available with many of those authors presenting detailed talks and discussions...all in one place. Many different playlists, audio/visual etc.
What more virtual museums and history sites should emulate.
Destroyed a lot of woods
If you go to London, visiting The Imperial War Museum is a must.
see my reply 53 for link to cornucopia of videos...World WarvOne Museum and Memorial youtub channel.
...late twentieth century...
Blame spellcheck!
The movie 1917 does a great job in showing visually what this war was like. I had no idea for instance that command centers were dug into small caves just off the trenches.
I still think it was mostly a stupid war. Of course being Canadian we are taught it is all Germany’s fault. I don’t buy that completely. Though the way the Germans treated those they occupied was damn savage.
Yes, I am beginning to question what we learned in Canadian history. Britain was afraid or jealous of Germany’s dreadnought program so wanted to put Germany in its place.
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