1 July 1916

[Ooh It’s a Corner]

'Song Of The Somme’

Today, on the 105th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Lest We Forget.

July 1st 1916 marked the heaviest day’s loss that a British army has ever suffered. 19,240 British soldiers, including those from the United Kingdom, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canada, tragically lost their lives on the battlefield and another 38,230 soldiers were wounded. During the 141 days of this horrific battle, operations continued on the Western Front of Northern France, and men from every part of Britain and across the British Empire took part. The forces of the British Empire suffered 420,000 casualties, many never returning to their families and loved ones; and those who did, were never the same men who left our shores. One man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making July 1, 1916, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. Never let their sacrifices be forgotten.

 

[Trammo]

They were lions lead by donkeys. We will remember them.

 

[Chunkylad]

Walk slowly in a line at those machine guns please…… sheer lunacy

 

[Shandypants]

No war is pleasant but there was something about WW1 that was particularly horrific. New weapons and old tactics created a massacre. Were the soldiers brave? I don't think they had any choice, they would have been shot as cowards if they refused to go over the top. Lambs to the slaughter, rest in peace.

 

[1966_and_all_that]

'Song Of The Somme’

Today, on the 105th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Lest We Forget.

July 1st 1916 marked the heaviest day’s loss that a British army has ever suffered. 19,240 British soldiers, including those from the United Kingdom, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canada, tragically lost their lives on the battlefield and another 38,230 soldiers were wounded. During the 141 days of this horrific battle, operations continued on the Western Front of Northern France, and men from every part of Britain and across the British Empire took part. The forces of the British Empire suffered 420,000 casualties, many never returning to their families and loved ones; and those who did, were never the same men who left our shores. One man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making July 1, 1916, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. Never let their sacrifices be forgotten.

Very good post Corner. Alas, future generations are condemned to repeat the failures of their forefathers. Memory fades and history lessons are treated more glibly with the passage of time.

 

[The Catcher in the Rye]

Lest we forget

 

[SouthCoastTangerine]

I didn’t realise that. I knew the Somme was deadly but not to that extent.

I now know what “cannon fodder” means.

God rest their souls.

 

[Wizaard]

'Song Of The Somme’

Today, on the 105th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Lest We Forget.

July 1st 1916 marked the heaviest day’s loss that a British army has ever suffered. 19,240 British soldiers, including those from the United Kingdom, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canada, tragically lost their lives on the battlefield and another 38,230 soldiers were wounded. During the 141 days of this horrific battle, operations continued on the Western Front of Northern France, and men from every part of Britain and across the British Empire took part. The forces of the British Empire suffered 420,000 casualties, many never returning to their families and loved ones; and those who did, were never the same men who left our shores. One man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making July 1, 1916, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. Never let their sacrifices be forgotten.

The WWI battlefield tour holiday I went on is the most poignant week I've ever had. Every day a new location and unbridled slaughter remembered. Still highly recommended.

 

[Shandypants]

The WWI battlefield tour holiday I went on is the most poignant week I've ever had. Every day a new location and unbridled slaughter remembered. Still highly recommended.

I went to Ypres I'm my 20s to see the trenches and museum with about 10 of my mates when we went on a boozy weekend to Belgium and north France. Heartbreaking, none of us spoke on the way back to the hotel.

 

[Shandypants]

Chorley Pals Memorial - The History of the Chorley Pals

www.chorleypalsmemorial.org.uk

Extract about Accrington and Chorkey pals about the Somme and the same day as today. Read the last two paragraphs. In less than 20 minutes..... this gives you some kind of horror what they all went through, mind blowing. The daily stress of the front line must have been a cruelty that no human should endure.

 

[Trammo]

Mons military museum in Belgium well worth a visit. The Germans held Mons for 4 years. Some fascinating exhibits in the museum including the greatcoat of a soldier that is hanging in strips as a grenade exploded near him and the thickness of the coat saved him from death or severe injury. Also is a list of names of those killed on the last day of the war 11/11/18 as the fighting went on till the last second.

 

[Dumfriestangerine]

⚘

 

[Ginge]

Laurence Binyon ..."They shall not grow old"
Gets me every time. These young men gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in relative peace in this green and pleasant land.
God bless them, each and every one of them.

 

[Come on the Pool!]

 

[Shandypants]

I can't stand the glorification of it. It wasn't glorious it was ** horrible, the blokes who fought would have been shit scared and went over the top to avoid being shot as a coward. The war was utterly pointless, it was a dick measuring contest and the blood of millions of French, Germans, British/Commonwealth soldiers and US was spilled. Remember it to help prevent war, not as mawkish hero worship bullshit.
When my grandad died in the early 1990s he was in hospital with an ex WW1 veteran, who was touching 100. He had terrible nightmares every night, a horrendously tortured soul, that's the reality of war.

 

[1966_and_all_that]

I can't stand the glorification of it. It wasn't glorious it was ** horrible, the blokes who fought would have been shit scared and went over the top to avoid being shot as a coward. The war was utterly pointless, it was a dick measuring contest and the blood of millions of French, Germans, British/Commonwealth soldiers and US was spilled. Remember it to help prevent war, not as mawkish hero worship bullshit.
When my grandad died in the early 1990s he was in hospital with an ex WW1 veteran, who was touching 100. He had terrible nightmares every night, a horrendously tortured soul, that's the reality of war.

Hear hear!

 

[Satriale's Pork Store]

Hear hear!

RIP to all those wasted young lives...

The Generals should have been put up against a wall and shot!

 

[CGP1]

I remember seeing two photographs of a Lancs regiment, might have been the Fusiliers. First one was the day before and the full regiment was formed in a square round the commanding officer. Second was the day after and it appeared they were having roll call. Dear me, awful, there weren't many there.

RIP to them all.

 

[Curryman]

Fortunately my grandfather survived the war, but was deafened, due to him being on the heavy guns. His regiment the Royal Artillery. A great uncle was killed at Ypres and is buried there, his regiment the Coldstream Guards.

My wife's grandad was gassed at Paschendale and died in hospital in Edinburgh. Buried in Manchester.

May God rest their souls and the souls of all those who sacrificed their lives.

 

[Archibald Knox]

It wasn’t just July 1st 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, that was awful; it went on for weeks afterwards as the Generals pushed their battalions for a breakthrough. Sheer attritional warfare.

My great uncle, a Private aged 20 years, was killed at about 0745 to 0800 on the 7th July in an attack by the 12th Bttn of the Manchester Regiment, walking into machine gun fire in the Quadrangle, just west of Contalmaison next to Mametz Wood. There was a comms fuck up and the British artillery barrage ceased 30 minutes before they were in position but the attack was still ordered to go ahead. Of the battalion strength of ca 900 men, about 550 were killed or wounded. It was an infamous day in the regiment’s history. The furthest they got was about 300 yards to Acid Drop Copse.

His body was never recovered, and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial and on the War Memorial of his home village in Andreas in the Isle of Man. One must assume that he was buried with his comrades in a field mass grave of which knowledge was lost in subsequent fighting and any grave markers churned up by shell fire. Or his body just sunk into the ground. His bones probably still remain in that field.

At 0745 on 7th July 2016, one hundred years afterwards to the minute, myself and my family were stood in that field near Contalmaison as the sun rose, to remember him. It was a beautiful sunny day, the fields were green with crops, not the mud and trenches of 1916, and the skylarks sang overhead. But the landscape was the same, even down to the exact woods, lanes and field boundaries, they have not changed at all. It was a deeply emotional moment.

Using a 1916 Trench Map we could still work out where the front lines were and, from the regimental War Diary, what had happened. Underfoot you could still pick up pieces of shrapnel and the odd brass baseplate of a small calibre shell (German “whizzbangs”) churned up by the plough.

 

[Farnorth]

The Generals should have been put up against a wall and shot!

I disagree.

The popular view of Great War generals, as propounded by the war poets, Oh What a Lovely War!, and Blackadder, is embedded deeply in the public consciousness and differing views are rarely seen in the media. However, there is a significant and growing body of opinion, based upon records and correspondence, that says the generals did their best in a very difficult situation and don't deserve to be pilloried to the extent they are.

The pace of change during WW1 was phenomenal. It has been said that Napoleon would have recognised the formations and tactics of 1914, yet only 4 years later in 1918, the conflict was recognisably modern, with tanks, sophisticated artillery bombardments, and air attacks. The old-fashioned infantry line abreast attacks that proved so costly on 1st July 1916 were replaced by modern fire and movement tactics and infiltration. By 1918 the British Army had learnt how to fight and win battles on the Western Front, (the '100 Days') leading directly to the Allied victory in November.

John Terraine's book, 'Haig, the Educated Soldier', published in 1963, was the first attempt by a reputable historian to attempt to redeem Haig's reputation, and there have been lots since. In more recent times, Gary Sheffield has written a number of books on the Great War that reflect modern academic ideas. Gordon Corrigan's polemic 'Mud, Blood, and Poppycock' is also an interesting read, debunking many popular myths.

Please note I'm not saying WW1 wasn't horrible (it was), that mistakes weren't made (they were) or the casualties weren't appalling. The Western Front is the only time in British military history that the British Army has fought the main army of a technically equivalent enemy for a sustained period; heavy casualties were inevitable. A little known fact is that British Empire deaths include 78 generals killed by enemy action, and many more wounded. The General Melchett caricature in Blackadder is a gross insult to the memory of many brave men.

 

[td53]

Best thread on here for ages. If you can find the Dan Carlin hardcore history WW1 podcasts, they are an incredibly detailed and brutal listen.

 

[td53]

In reference to posts above about technology change, I think I'm right in saying the French started the war with a considerable (and disastrous) belief in mounted cavalry which goes to show how much of a turning point it was.

I could be wrong, but I'm sure I've read that.

 

[dave1772]

I disagree.

The popular view of Great War generals, as propounded by the war poets, Oh What a Lovely War!, and Blackadder, is embedded deeply in the public consciousness and differing views are rarely seen in the media. However, there is a significant and growing body of opinion, based upon records and correspondence, that says the generals did their best in a very difficult situation and don't deserve to be pilloried to the extent they are.

The pace of change during WW1 was phenomenal. It has been said that Napoleon would have recognised the formations and tactics of 1914, yet only 4 years later in 1918, the conflict was recognisably modern, with tanks, sophisticated artillery bombardments, and air attacks. The old-fashioned infantry line abreast attacks that proved so costly on 1st July 1916 were replaced by modern fire and movement tactics and infiltration. By 1918 the British Army had learnt how to fight and win battles on the Western Front, (the '100 Days') leading directly to the Allied victory in November.

John Terraine's book, 'Haig, the Educated Soldier', published in 1963, was the first attempt by a reputable historian to attempt to redeem Haig's reputation, and there have been lots since. In more recent times, Gary Sheffield has written a number of books on the Great War that reflect modern academic ideas. Gordon Corrigan's polemic 'Mud, Blood, and Poppycock' is also an interesting read, debunking many popular myths.

Please note I'm not saying WW1 wasn't horrible (it was), that mistakes weren't made (they were) or the casualties weren't appalling. The Western Front is the only time in British military history that the British Army has fought the main army of a technically equivalent enemy for a sustained period; heavy casualties were inevitable. A little known fact is that British Empire deaths include 78 generals killed by enemy action, and many more wounded. The General Melchett caricature in Blackadder is a gross insult to the memory of many brave men.

yep that is exactly right. The 'lions led by donkeys' line was disproven a while ago. Also the reason they walked slowly towards German trenches was we had shelled the German frontline for hours and assumed it was decimated, so we could simply walk to their trenches and there would be nothing left to find there. We were wrong.

 

[Mexboroseasider]

It wasn’t just July 1st 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive, that was awful; it went on for weeks afterwards as the Generals pushed their battalions for a breakthrough. Sheer attritional warfare.

My great uncle, a Private aged 20 years, was killed at about 0745 to 0800 on the 7th July in an attack by the 12th Bttn of the Manchester Regiment, walking into machine gun fire in the Quadrangle, just west of Contalmaison next to Mametz Wood. There was a comms fuck up and the British artillery barrage ceased 30 minutes before they were in position but the attack was still ordered to go ahead. Of the battalion strength of ca 900 men, about 550 were killed or wounded. It was an infamous day in the regiment’s history. The furthest they got was about 300 yards to Acid Drop Copse.

His body was never recovered, and he is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial and on the War Memorial of his home village in Andreas in the Isle of Man. One must assume that he was buried with his comrades in a field mass grave of which knowledge was lost in subsequent fighting and any grave markers churned up by shell fire. Or his body just sunk into the ground. His bones probably still remain in that field.

At 0745 on 7th July 2016, one hundred years afterwards to the minute, myself and my family were stood in that field near Contalmaison as the sun rose, to remember him. It was a beautiful sunny day, the fields were green with crops, not the mud and trenches of 1916, and the skylarks sang overhead. But the landscape was the same, even down to the exact woods, lanes and field boundaries, they have not changed at all. It was a deeply emotional moment.

Using a 1916 Trench Map we could still work out where the front lines were and, from the regimental War Diary, what had happened. Underfoot you could still pick up pieces of shrapnel and the odd brass baseplate of a small calibre shell (German “whizzbangs”) churned up by the plough.

Yes. I also had a great uncle who died on the first day of the battle. Same age as your relative and again he’s remembered on the Thiepval memorial, which suggests his body was never found.

I knew my grandad had fought on the Somme (and survived to a ripe old age) but only discovered this about his elder brother by accident.

 

[Stony Hill]

Laurence Binyon ..."They shall not grow old"
Gets me every time. These young men gave the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in relative peace in this green and pleasant land.
God bless them, each and every one of them.

I think Laurence Binyon was a Cornishman who wrote those words, ironicly a few years before WW1 started.

 

[Stony Hill]

Sorry, should have added:
there is a stone on the SW coastal path with the ode inscribed upon it.
A beautiful place to pause for thought.

 

[Davepick]

My maternal uncle was killed in 1919 aged 19 years.
He had been in France for only 4 weeks and was shot by a sniper whilst going through trenches to the forward positions.
We have visited his grave a few times.

 

[Trammo]

yep that is exactly right. The 'lions led by donkeys' line was disproven a while ago. Also the reason they walked slowly towards German trenches was we had shelled the German frontline for hours and assumed it was decimated, so we could simply walk to their trenches and there would be nothing left to find there. We were wrong.

That proves that assuming policy by the Generals re the barrage was fatally flawed.Another cock up by High Command probably 15 miles in the rear in a chateau well away from trench reality. Why do you think Butcher Haig was given that nickname by his own troops?

 

[Shandypants]

Yes. I also had a great uncle who died on the first day of the battle. Same age as your relative and again he’s remembered on the Thiepval memorial, which suggests his body was never found.

I knew my grandad had fought on the Somme (and survived to a ripe old age) but only discovered this about his elder brother by accident.

People who fought in the war wanted to forget, subsequently people who haven't been anywhere near war want to glorify and constantly harp on about it. I think we need to move on in a more dignified manner, we seem an insecure nation with a chip on our shoulder.

 

[Ooh It’s a Corner]

"The Pals were the finest soldiers that you’ve ever seen, and we were all friends. We went up the ladder, on top of the parapet, and immediately anyone appeared, the blast of the machine guns knocked them back into the trench. There were Germans sat on the parapet of their trench with machine guns, mowing us down. In fact, I don’t think half a dozen of our people got beyond our front line, never mind to the German front line."⁠
.
Corporal A. Wood 16th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, 1st July 1916.

 

[Ooh It’s a Corner]

People who fought in the war wanted to forget, subsequently people who haven't been anywhere near war want to glorify and constantly harp on about it. I think we need to move on in a more dignified manner, we seem an insecure nation with a chip on our shoulder.

My father and his father and many of my forebears fought in wars they didnt harp on about it they did their duty and by Christ I am glad they aren’t around to have their sacrifices trivialised by the likes of you have a look on your shoulder pal

 

[Shandypants]

My father and his father and many of my forebears fought in wars they didnt harp on about it they did their duty and by Christ I am glad they aren’t around to have their sacrifices trivialised by the likes of you have a look on your shoulder pal

Trivialising it, you tit! My grandad was in bomber command did 36 missions, my great uncle Joseph Ratcliffe was in the first sas regiment in North Africa (Google it) my son is in the paras. Its not a dick measuring contest, this nation needs to move on from the mawkish shite and worshipping a war that was won by American supplies and Russian blood (27m of them died)

 

[Tangerinemoss]

yep that is exactly right. The 'lions led by donkeys' line was disproven a while ago. Also the reason they walked slowly towards German trenches was we had shelled the German frontline for hours and assumed it was decimated, so we could simply walk to their trenches and there would be nothing left to find there. We were wrong.

Sorry to disagree, but that is not true. If it was, it would have happened once only, and lessons would have been learnt. It happened many, many times. The Allies used the same tactics in WW!1as the Russians used in WW2, albeit without commissars with machine guns behind them. They used the Court Martial and cowardice charges instead.

I think the re writing of history is also totally missing the point that the American Civil war was the first industrial style war, all these lessons should have been already learnt, and hundreds of thousands of lives saved. It also minimises the belief early on that chaps from good schools were automatically good leaders. A handful of the Generals were highly skilled leaders, with a clear vision. They simply were not allowed to progress their campaign without political interference in timescale.

 

[Davepick]

My father and his father and many of my forebears fought in wars they didnt harp on about it they did their duty and by Christ I am glad they aren’t around to have their sacrifices trivialised by the likes of you have a look on your shoulder pal

Apart from losing my uncle in WW1, my father was called up in WW2. He was 36 y.o. and had 3 kids me being the youngest at 4 y.o.
Being the sort of guy he was, he always talked about the war.
How he went through North Africa and then on to Italy.
He was in the RASC and drove lorries carrying Bailey Bridges which were portable, made of metal & wood.
They could then be hand carried to span ravines, rivers etc.
They were featured in the film 'A bridge Too Far'.
I will never forget the day that my brother and I, in 1945, walked up Regent Rd to St Johns' School. Crossing Church St and coming to wards us was this soldier with kitbag, rifle, and tin hat. he said to us, 'Are you Alan and David Pickering?' we said that were. he then said, 'I'm your Dad.'
We didn't recognise him.

 

[Davepick]

Forgot to say that my uncles' name is on the monument at Ypres (Wipers), Belgium.
There is a ceremony every night of the year at 20.00 hrs.
Very moving.

 

[Ruperthoop]

I have sat at Bloomfield road and felt very sad on occasion over the years thinking that for every seat approximately one British/ commonwealth soldier lost their live on that evil day. We owe such brave men so much.

 

[dave1772]

Sorry to disagree, but that is not true. If it was, it would have happened once only, and lessons would have been learnt. It happened many, many times. The Allies used the same tactics in WW!1as the Russians used in WW2, albeit without commissars with machine guns behind them. They used the Court Martial and cowardice charges instead.

I think the re writing of history is also totally missing the point that the American Civil war was the first industrial style war, all these lessons should have been already learnt, and hundreds of thousands of lives saved. It also minimises the belief early on that chaps from good schools were automatically good leaders. A handful of the Generals were highly skilled leaders, with a clear vision. They simply were not allowed to progress their campaign without political interference in timescale.

which but is untrue ? The 'lions led by donkeys' tagline was disproven a long time ago. I remember having to analyse and de-bunk it on my O-level history paper almost 40 years ago. And it is absolutely true in the first Battle of the Somme that the plan was to decimate the German defences with an incessant early-morning bombardment and use of mines with the assumption the infantry could then advance unhindered. I don't doubt some lesser-trained soldiers lives were deemed less valuable than professional soldiers, but that wasn't really the cause of the massive loss of life on the first day of the battle.

 

[Archibald Knox]

A few points...

The artillery bombardment before the first day of the Somme offensive went on for 5 days not just a few hours. Yes, they thought the barbed wire would be cut and removed by shell fire - a daft optimism that they never actually tested beforehand. The colossal mines burrowed under German trenches were a mistake, these huge explosions (reportedly heard in London, certainly for 50 miles or more) were an obvious signal the assault was imminent, not just locally where each destroyed about 100-200 yards of German front line, but all along the front and into the German reinforcements held back.

Still, if our troops had run across No Man’s Land immediately the bombardment had ceased they would have caught many Germans in the front line still in their deep dugouts unable to get their machine guns out. However, there were also 2nd, 3rd and 4th lines of German defensive trenches. So, success was by no means assured but casualties would have been lower. The British Army learnt many of these lessons and applied them in 1918.

By 1916, the original professional army, the “Old Contemptibles” of 1914 had been drained away. The conscripted Pals battalions had been extensively trained for about 18 months before the Somme offensive since most had been raised in the early weeks and months of the war in Autumn 1914. Including live fire training on the heights of Holcombe Moor, north of Bury, where they advanced behind real artillery fire. They were proper soldiers by then, not civilians, but the Generals, particularly Haig, considering this was the Pals’ first big battle, did not trust in their own training. That was their biggest single mistake.

There was still something of the “Charge of the Light Brigade” attitude amongst the field grade officers (Colonels down, Majors, Captains etc) in “their’s not to question why” in obeying farcical plans and orders sent from high command in the chateaux way behind the lines. Communications were poor, often relying on runners/riders who could take hours or telephone cables that were often cut, there were no radio comms. Brigadiers and junior Generals at the front were often sacked for their divisions not being sufficiently “aggressive”. All this resulted in outdated plans and orders being followed that bore no sense to the reality of the front line.

One of the main reasons for the Somme offensive was political/military. It was first planned as the major West Front joint offensive for 1916 but then changed so as to take pressure off our French ally at the Verdun salient who were suffering greatly under a huge attritional effort by the Germans started in February 1916 to wear them down. Casualties at Verdun were measured by the million not just hundreds of thousands. In the Somme offensive, which was a joint British-French effort, the French had the greater success in the southern sectors and actually achieved many objectives.

Research in German archives revealed in 2016 that the date and location of the British offensive had been betrayed to German interrogators by two politically disgruntled soldiers from Ulster several weeks in advance. The German military accordingly undertook significant defensive preparatory work on the British section of the Somme offensive, especially in the sector north of the Albert-Bapaume road where most of our losses were.

BBC Two - The Somme 1916 - From Both Sides of the Wire, First Day - Erster Tag

Historian Peter Barton explores the events leading up to the first day of the offensive.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Recidivist3]

Documentary shown in the U.K. in August 1916

73 minutes long - preparations for battle for first 25 minutes. July 1st from then on

‘Over the top’ sequence was faked

Battle of the Somme film – archive

Filmed during the first world war’s bloodiest episode in 1916, The Battle of the Somme remains one of the most successful films ever made. Throughout the autumn of 1916 around 20 million people flocked to see it. The Manchester Guardian and Observer recorded their reactions

www.theguardian.com

 

[Archibald Knox]

Documentary shown in the U.K. in August 1916

73 minutes long - preparations for battle for first 25 minutes. July 1st from then on

‘Over the top’ sequence was faked

Battle of the Somme film – archive

Filmed during the first world war’s bloodiest episode in 1916, The Battle of the Somme remains one of the most successful films ever made. Throughout the autumn of 1916 around 20 million people flocked to see it. The Manchester Guardian and Observer recorded their reactions

www.theguardian.com

Perhaps “re-enacted” rather than “faked”. It’s sort of comforting to know that those “shot” and falling in the “over the top” scenes were not really being killed for the public’s enjoyment. Despite the real thing being a thousand times worse.

 

[Camberwell1]

'Song Of The Somme’

Today, on the 105th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Lest We Forget.

July 1st 1916 marked the heaviest day’s loss that a British army has ever suffered. 19,240 British soldiers, including those from the United Kingdom, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canada, tragically lost their lives on the battlefield and another 38,230 soldiers were wounded. During the 141 days of this horrific battle, operations continued on the Western Front of Northern France, and men from every part of Britain and across the British Empire took part. The forces of the British Empire suffered 420,000 casualties, many never returning to their families and loved ones; and those who did, were never the same men who left our shores. One man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making July 1, 1916, the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. Never let their sacrifices be forgotten.

I think the matter you have to remember is the cowardice and inexcusable leadership at military and political level - all totally unnecessary and you’ve only portrayed half the story

this anniversary confirms why we should not have left the EU and rejoin ASAP

no debate necessary - TOTAL no brainier !