Today is the 93rd anniversary of the the Battle of the Somme.
On the morning of July 1, 1916, 13 British and 7 French divisions went "over the top" and attacked the Germans a few hundred yards away. The preliminary artillery bombardment hadn't done much except to alert the Germans where to position their reserves.
By day's end -- one day -- the British had suffered 57,470 casualties, of which 19,240 were KIA.
One day. They attacked again the next day. And the day after that. And so on until November 18th -- 1.5 million casualties total.
Every life is precious, but the mind recoils in horror to contemplate the day.
Eric Bogle's The Green Fields of France seems appropriate -- here's the last stanza....
And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.