On Passchendaele Ridge

[Fenella]

I was reading an article in the Sunday Mail this morning which was an account of the conditions at Passchendaele by the last living survivor, Harry Patch.

It was really moving. He and his comrades made a pact that they wouldn't kill anyone if they could help it. Even in those conditions he stuck to his pact. A German soldier came towards him and Harry shot him in the shoulder to stop him. The German soldier carried on and Harry had four seconds to decide whether to kill him or not. He made up his mind and shot the soldier in the leg and "gave him his life".

I find it incredible that even in those conditions Harry still cared about the enemy enough to spare their lives even when they threatened to kill him.

[Gonzo.]

What is war good for?

[timey]

War brutalises so many people. When I think of WW1 and the fact that I would probably have been there and had to kill people. Doesn't bear thinking about as I would have found that very hard to do, especially as the "enemy" were ordinary people like us and not nazis or anything like in WW2 (I know not all the soldiers were but that is what they were fighting for). What this man did was amazing bearing in mind that the slightest mistake would have meant him being killed himself. There are so many untold stories about what happened, good and bad, but I remember my grandad talking about his time in WW1 and they were amazing stories.

[SFB]

When I think of WW1 and the fact that I would probably have been there and had to kill people.

Can you expand on that thought?

Unless you had been born at the end of the 19th century, there's not much chance that you would have been called upon to bear arms for King and country.

It's hard to imagine, but not many soldiers actually killed anyone during that conflict.
Machine gunners killed quite a few, artillery killed many, but the average Tommy in the trenches with his rifle didn't.

[timey]

Can you expand on that thought?

Unless you had been born at the end of the 19th century, there's not much chance that you would have been called upon to bear arms for King and country.

It's hard to imagine, but not many soldiers actually killed anyone during that conflict.
Machine gunners killed quite a few, artillery killed many, but the average Tommy in the trenches with his rifle didn't.

Point 1, I was assuming if I had been born at the end of the 19th century, obviously.

Point 2, very true. Large numbers were killed by gas and bombs.

[Fenella]

Point 1, I was assuming if I had been born at the end of the 19th century, obviously.

Point 2, very true. Large numbers were killed by gas and bombs.

Also at Passchendaele many were killed when they fell into the mud and drowned.

Harry said he went to Flanders for a memorial service in 2004 and met a German called Charles Kuentz. They talked about why they had been fighting each other and Charles said "I fought you because I was told to, and you did the same".

Harry said he didn't talk about the war for 80 years afterwards, even to his family.

[SFB]

Reference Point 2 Timey. Do you have any figures?

Aerial bombs were very small and mostly dropped by hand from light aircraft.

Gas was only employed for a short time and even then only sparingly. It became more of a fear factor than an actual weapon.

[timey]

No, I don't have the figures. Being the Google whizz, I'm sure you can look it up.

[SFB]

So why make wild claims about history if you have no knowledge of it?

[Fenella]

So why make wild claims about history if you have no knowledge of it?

Why are you being so nasty? This thread was supposed to be about the horror of war and the courage of the last living survivor of Passchendaele. Timey commented on what I said so there's no need to start challenging his knowlege of history.