Yes, all families had members who took part in this and other battles, though the knowledge of this is becoming forgotten. I know of two Gt Grandfathers of mine who died because of that war, though I don’t know clearly which battles they were a part of. I have visited the grave of one in Thessalonika, Greece. The other died at home after being gassed while at the front. When I think of that war, I am acutely aware that both of my Grandmothers grew up without a father in their lives because of it.
I think you are right about the knowledge becoming forgotten. Although my great-grandfather came out of retirement for WW1 to help with the sea nets in the Dardanelles, he kept a diary, which is now in War Museum in London, he also survived. He had a charmed life, he was offered a place with Scotts team to the Antarctic, he said no he liked the heat, not the cold, he went to Malta and his best friend, Seaman Edgar Evans went and never came back. Its all the personnel little stories that will be forgotten as time passes, which does seem a shame.
My first experience with the history of WWI was in reading Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. I was appalled at the losses. I gobbled up those sad poems written by the young British soldiers — Wilfred Owen broke my heart the most with his “Dulce et Decorum est.”
My grandfather went to France as a teenage soldier during the last of the war. He came back and never talked about it. Ever.
Although all the deaths were a waste, there is something particurlarly so about Owen’s death, coming as it did just a week before the end of the war. He almost made it. (Saying that, I have heard of men killed after the war had ended-news had yet to reach them.)
My own Grandfather spoke little about that war, too. As for the war before it, see my reply to Blosslyn, above.
City Jackdaw 
My grandfather was there, got shot in the leg and came home, he was one of the lucky ones.
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Yes, all families had members who took part in this and other battles, though the knowledge of this is becoming forgotten. I know of two Gt Grandfathers of mine who died because of that war, though I don’t know clearly which battles they were a part of. I have visited the grave of one in Thessalonika, Greece. The other died at home after being gassed while at the front. When I think of that war, I am acutely aware that both of my Grandmothers grew up without a father in their lives because of it.
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I think you are right about the knowledge becoming forgotten. Although my great-grandfather came out of retirement for WW1 to help with the sea nets in the Dardanelles, he kept a diary, which is now in War Museum in London, he also survived. He had a charmed life, he was offered a place with Scotts team to the Antarctic, he said no he liked the heat, not the cold, he went to Malta and his best friend, Seaman Edgar Evans went and never came back. Its all the personnel little stories that will be forgotten as time passes, which does seem a shame.
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Wow how interesting! You should write his story. How fantastic to have his diary as a source.
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Thanks Andy, I did start many years ago, I should finish it really 🙂
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What a hideous battle! So many lives lost. 😦
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One of many, but that is the one that seems to sum up the waste and futility.
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So much for ‘the war to end all wars’ – sigh –
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Yes, I think that was an element of justification and wishful thinking.
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Like so much violence, just craziness.
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Yes, so many wasted lives.
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My first experience with the history of WWI was in reading Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. I was appalled at the losses. I gobbled up those sad poems written by the young British soldiers — Wilfred Owen broke my heart the most with his “Dulce et Decorum est.”
My grandfather went to France as a teenage soldier during the last of the war. He came back and never talked about it. Ever.
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Although all the deaths were a waste, there is something particurlarly so about Owen’s death, coming as it did just a week before the end of the war. He almost made it. (Saying that, I have heard of men killed after the war had ended-news had yet to reach them.)
My own Grandfather spoke little about that war, too. As for the war before it, see my reply to Blosslyn, above.
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