Pictured above is a battalion of the Cameron Highlanders in 1914, prior to being despatched to the front line; below is the same battalion upon their return in 1918 after the armistice.
The cost of peace is great. The cost of war is greater. It’s good to take a pause for the cause on Veteran’s Day and honor those who served.
In Flanders Fields
-John McRae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
During military service in Germany 1964-1966 three of us took a trip around some of the WWI and WWII battle sites. In some of the WWI areas, you could till smell the stench. Faint, but it was there.
It is hard to comprehend such madness.
The slaughter-upon-slaughter of trench warfare was incomprehensible to me, but all the same it was impossibly real. The flower of youth in France, England, Germany, Austria, Russia, Belgium was extinguished.
Wow. That is a truly amazing (and frightening) picture.
A reminder of the grim reality of total war.
28 survivors out of roughly 400?
WW1 was Western Civilizations attempt at suicide. WW2 the second cut and it may have been fatal- maybe our ancestors will be able to tell.
Well said — we still haven't pulled out of the skid, imo.
LL, I was moved by that.
Almost beyond imagining.
If I recall correctly, a British Battalion in that era had a standard complement of 750 men. And bear in mind that the battalion would have received regular reinforcements during the course of the war. From the Regimental website:
"The Regiment raised 13 Battalions and gained 57 Battle Honours and 3 Victoria Crosses, losing 5,930 men during the course of the war."
Entire male generations were basically lost by a number of countries…
And then the Second World War came along.
A generation later at Stalingrad Russian Army Corps were reduced to the size of companies. Army Groups were reduced to skeletons. The Germans ate their horses (principal transportation) and then starved, and then the Russians counterattacked.
And today idiots are offended that snow is white. So very sad.
And the photos are a stark reminder. I think I will share them with faceless book.
May God bless us all, in spite of our ignorance.
Those Wars, particularly the first war, had a huge social impact. Women wanted husbands, men, and there weren't enough to go around.
So Behavior changed. And was accepted.
This picture shows with far more efficacy the cost in lives incurred during The Great War than words could ever convey.
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