The troops in that war were unfortunately the carriers of it, and some that had been victorious in battle were defeated by one common enemy, nature itself. When I realised it, the story that H G Wells told in "War of the Worlds" somehow had a hollow ring to it.

So I had found out just what had happened to him and my knowledge of that war grew, it still left me with a feeling of sadness that so many had perished for so little,  knowing that it was to be followed  soon after by a second war.

The funny thing about that war, was that one of its foot soldiers was to become the leader of the very army that would start the Second World War.

That man was Adolph Hitler, who became the Chancellor of Germany.  His bravery in the First World War earned him the highest award that could be bestowed on a German soldier, The Iron Cross.

So much has been written about that war it is impossible to do it justice here, but here are a few facts

The Somme

About 20,000 British and empire troops fell on 1 July 1916 known as bloodiest day in British Army history. 

Some 125,000 were to die during the course of the five-month battle.  These were unprecedented in British military history.

There were more than 420,000 British and commonwealth casualties by the end of the campaign in November in the area around Ypres, including Hill 60, Passcendaele, Lys, Sanctuary Wood

Chlorine gas was fist used in warfare by the Germans in the second attack at Ypres on the 22 April 1915, my grandfather George Christie was in that attack, he died three years after the war had ended suffering a slow choking death. 15,000 were affected 5,000 being killed within days.

Passchendaele July to November 1917,  300,000 lost their lives, it achieved an advance of only 5 miles

Total killed 750,000.  total disabled 2,500,000 approximate.

Over 1,700,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or wounded and an uncounted number of civilians.

The Treaty of Versailles signed on the 28th June 1919 should have ended all wars, but as we now know did not.

From various sources not least mine. Maurice A Christie