Lest We Forget.
Until the day I die I’ll always remember that my great-grandfather died on the Western Front, and that my Grandmother lost her father at such a young age, and her speaking of it when I was young (she has since passed on). We are the last generation to have met or have spent time with those who remember the Great War, but let us hope that future generations will never forget the sacrifices made by an entire generation for freedom.
The one fact that always startles me from an Australian perspective: 216,000 Australian casualties at a time the country had a population of 4.5 million. They say that no town was left without a casualty, and that 1 in 6 Australian families were directly affected, and that everyone knew someone in that total. There are towns today in France that still proudly fly the Australian flag in remembrance of their sacrifices.
++ hear hear
I agree. When you stand in Villers-Brettoneux cemetery and read the names on the graves (and the ones that say an unknown soldier), or walk through what's left of the Canadian and German trenches, you know what hell it was.
On the other hand though, what did they fight and die for? Started by a Serb and a whole bunch of treaties to start the war which no-one wanted. Ended badly with an unfair treaty with Germany which sets up the WW2. That makes it even sadder.
I agree. When you stand in Villers-Brettoneux cemetery and read the names on the graves (and the ones that say an unknown soldier), or walk through what's left of the Canadian and German trenches, you know what hell it was.
On the other hand though, what did they fight and die for? Started by a Serb and a whole bunch of treaties to start the war which no-one wanted. Ended badly with an unfair treaty with Germany which sets up the WW2. That makes it even sadder.
I agree. When you stand in Villers-Brettoneux cemetery and read the names on the graves (and the ones that say an unknown soldier), or walk through what's left of the Canadian and German trenches, you know what hell it was.
On the other hand though, what did they fight and die for? Started by a Serb and a whole bunch of treaties to start the war which no-one wanted. Ended badly with an unfair treaty with Germany which sets up the WW2. That makes it even sadder.