will they ever say Sorry

[maidmarianoops]

over the past week i have gone through a lot of books and photos to try to help with uniform recognitions.

I finished up in tears at the fate of deserters,who were killed by their own comrades,for being afraid.

Sorry
sylvia

[t mo]

hello sylvia
never say sorry for emotions of this kind it was a despicable way to treat men who in the most part were completely shattered by the constant shelling and conditions that they had to endure this is why so many never spoke of there time there .
how easy it was for those in command to sit well back from the front line and tell others to throw there lives away for what in a lot of cases was for no gain what so ever  , i n my very humble opinion anyone who was there deserves the utmost highest respect from all of us and the younger generations should be taught in school of the bravery of all those who served and died ancient history is just that and should now be put to one side but the 2 world wars are modern history in my mind and should be remembered .

the antics of the past weeks with the student protests goes to prove just how little knowledge most youngsters have of the sacrifice made by the common man for his fellows a lost generation of men and boys who thought they were doing an honourably thing for king and country , as the saying goes LIONS LED BY DONKEYS what must it be like to be told to form up as a firing squad with one man out of the six firing a blank cartridge so no one of them knew who it was that fired the blank was that supposed to make them feel better .
i too am sorry  but only for my putting down the thoughts i,ve had for a very long time and then inflicting them on all who read this my apologise to you all
trevor

[Valda]

Hi


The deserters who were executed in the First World War were pardoned in 2006

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/aug/17/military.immigrationpolicy
http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html

http://www.economist.com/node/7804031


Regards

Valda

[Draigcoch]

t mo, don't apologise it was an awful situation for young boys and men to be in, my grandfather served in WW1 he only survived because he was badly injured by shrapnel and shipped home. He called one particular General a butcher.

[Redroger]

I believe though he never directly confirmed it that my uncle, Sergeant in the RHA WW1, and regular soldier commanded a firing squad towards the end of the war. It was obliquely mentioned when he talked of prisoners who had been condemned being pardoned or amnestied at the end of the war.

[scrimnet]

May I commend x3 books to you all

Mud Blood And Poppycock by Gordon Corrigan

Forgotten Victory by Gary Sheffield

Blindfold And Alone by Hughes-Wilson and Corns


I'm afraid that there is a lot of myths around re WW1, and an awful lot of them perpetrated by things such as "Oh What A Lovely War" and several badly written and researched books.

All the shot at dawns were not deserters over 20 of them were convicted murderers, and received the punishment set by the civilian courts at the time.

And of all the allied armies, we executed the least apart from the Americans, and only a tiny percentage of those condemned were ever executed.

Psychiatry was in its infancy, and many, many were given psychiatric help...Pse see "Forgotten Lunatics Of The Great War" by Peter Barham

Trevor, perhaps you really need to read the above books...Officers did not sit well back from the front line....The amount of Generals KIA will surprise you!!

[irishresearcher]

May I commend x3 books to you all

Mud Blood And Poppycock by Gordon Corrigan

Forgotten Victory by Gary Sheffield

Blindfold And Alone by Hughes-Wilson and Corns


I'm afraid that there is a lot of myths around re WW1, and an awful lot of them perpetrated by things such as "Oh What A Lovely War" and several badly written and researched books.

All the shot at dawns were not deserters over 20 of them were convicted murderers, and received the punishment set by the civilian courts at the time.

And of all the allied armies, we executed the least apart from the Americans, and only a tiny percentage of those condemned were ever executed.

Psychiatry was in its infancy, and many, many were given psychiatric help...Pse see "Forgotten Lunatics Of The Great War" by Peter Barham

Trevor, perhaps you really need to read the above books...Officers did not sit well back from the front line....The amount of Generals KIA will surprise you!!

A shame Douglas Haig wasn't one of them.

[scrimnet]

Why?

He was the man who lead the army to victory in 1918, and was the one who tried to stop the Somme, and was ordered to attack by the politicians who pandered to the French demands.

He also advocated the tank and "modern" warfare such as section attacks and all arms fighting 

[irishresearcher]

Noted historians differ on the subject.......... Haig was old fashioned in his belief how battles should be fought.

So no blame lies at his feet........ it's the politicians or the French?

To glorify the slaughter and indeed glorify Haig's stubborness is naive.

It's so easy to fight battles from a tent and send 100's of thosands of men to their death due to the belief "one is right."

In fact the politicians didn't want another Somme.

The British and Allies were always going to win once the USA entered the war.

Out of interest ...how many Generals were killed?