When we lived in Germany I used to go to the big Cemetery at Rheinberg for the Remembrance Day event. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen, whose graves were brought in from Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Munchen-Gladbach, Essen, Aachen and Dortmund; 450 graves were from Cologne alone.
It was both moving and emotional.
The film I started to watch on TV. I couldn't watch it all...just too much for me. So much suffering, so much stoic acceptance. What a pointless waste of a generation over ultimately pointless politics. At the end, the bitterness of the French and their demand to "punish" Germany resulted in WW2, the "part 2".
God help us if Part 3 is triggered.
It was very emotional. Interesting that some soldiers considered it the best time of their lives. I guess it gave them something that they didn’t have in civilian life, comradeship, a sense of purpose, excitement etc.
All for what though? Millions treated as cannon fodder and a huge waste of life. I wonder if we hadn’t got involved what the outcome would have been. Perhaps Hiltler wouldn’t have come to power, the Nazi Party formed and WW2 may not have happened. Or was that inevitable?
I lost two great uncles in WW1 and it’s hard to say, but what did we owe them? Britain wasn’t threatened unlike the following conflict where we really did owe so much to our troops. Controversial comments which I will probably get shot down for!
