Thank you. My father’s uncle was killed on the first day of the Somme. He was with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. They left their trenches and walked into German machine gun fire from emplacements in Y Ravine in front of Beaumont-Hamel. There were over 700 in the battalion at the beginning of the day and around 250 survived. His body was never found.
It even happened that at times the high command had little or no understanding of what combat was like for the fighting soldiers, as in the oft repeated exclamation recorded as having been spoken loudly by a British staff officer upon his first visit to the trenches and seeing No Mans Land, “Good God, we sent men out to fight in that?!”
Thank you. My father’s uncle was killed on the first day of the Somme. He was with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. They left their trenches and walked into German machine gun fire from emplacements in Y Ravine in front of Beaumont-Hamel. There were over 700 in the battalion at the beginning of the day and around 250 survived. His body was never found.
Thanks for sharing.
It even happened that at times the high command had little or no understanding of what combat was like for the fighting soldiers, as in the oft repeated exclamation recorded as having been spoken loudly by a British staff officer upon his first visit to the trenches and seeing No Mans Land, “Good God, we sent men out to fight in that?!”
Sadly, not uncommon that the people high up lose touch with the reality of the people “doing” the work.
Exquisite unique archival sources. Much appreciated!