Below is given a personal viewpoint, by Dave Ridout, about some of the actions that history records. I have tried to be even handed, bearing in mind that I, along with almost every family in Britain, had grandfathers, great uncles etc. involved "at the sharp end". It is with utmost respect that I try to understand their sacrifice which proved to be so futile…….unless our Politicians and Leaders learn from the past !!!!!

Before war was declared.
The build up to war is a very complex issue and one has to have some appreciation to the background and the state of flux in Europe that preceded it. Germany was only recognised as becoming a cohesive country in the late 1870's. The Balkan States always seeming to be in a state of disagreement. Old allies, such as Britain, France and Belgium, were signatories to various treaties signed during the previous hundred years.

The Balkans.
It is accepted that the First World War started as a result of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28th June 1914. He and Princess Sophie were on a visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia when their vehicle was subjected to a bomb thrown at it. They survived this but later that day the Archduke was shot by an assassin. It was claimed that the Serbians were behind this atrocity and subsequently on 28th July 1914 Austria declared war on Serbia. This is immediately followed on 1st August 1914 by Germany declaring war on Russia.

The Battle of The Frontiers.
On 4th August 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and this resulted in Britain declaring war on Germany. The British, French and Belgium troops were engaged in the first battles with the German Armies. For 5 days from August 14th Germany's seven armies fought France's five and Britain's one on a front that stretched from Mons in Belgium, along the borders of Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg with France; as far as Switzerland.

Mons.
The British Expeditionary Force under the command of General Sir John French comprised of 70,000 men and 300 artillery pieces. They were deployed behind the Mons canal and for 10 hours held off the vastly superior German force of 160,000 men and 600 artillery pieces before retreating. The German army continued its advance to within sight of Paris before being repulsed back towards the north. Each side tried to outflank the other and this became known as "the race to the sea".

The Ypres Salient.
At the northern end of the line the British and Germans faced each other in the area of Ypres. The stakes were high as the victor would control the channel ports and thus the British supply line. The British repulsed a German cavalry scouts attack at Poperinge to the west of Ypres (Ieper). On 7th October 1914, 20,000 troops of the German Army entered the Grote Markt in Ypres. Three days later they left to take up positions on the "high ground", on the ridge running from Passchendaele (Passendale) in the north to Messines (Mesen) in the south. The Ypres area of Flanders (Flooded Land) was held by the British and formed a large "bulge" or "salient" into the German held ground. The British attacked as they tried to advance from Ypres to Bruges. Here the two armies dug in, and with the increasing use of machine guns and artillery bombardment, the struggle for the ordinary soldier was just to survive. Trench systems were dug. Barbed wire pickets were fixed. Tunnelers dug under "no mans land" and the enemy trenches in order to blow up enemy positions. Soldiers went "over the top" and charged the enemy trenches, inevitably with tremendous loss of life. Gradually the area became a sea of mud, shell holes, barbed wire, blasted trees and the bodies of the fallen.

From the First Battle of Ypres (19th October to 22nd November 1914) until the Fourth Battle of Ypres (7th April to 29th April 1918) the two opposing lines moved backwards and forwards a maximum of some 3 miles. At Ploegsteert, to the south, it was a maximum distance of less than half a mile and at Steenstraat in the north, it was less than a quarter of a mile. Nearly 4 years of intense warfare on an 18 mile front for what? It is calculated that at the Third Battle of Ypres (7th June to 10th November 1917) the British took 300,000 casualties………..35 men for every metre of ground gained.

The Somme.
Some miles to the south of the Belgium / French border is the area of "The Somme". To most people, The Somme refers to the battles of 1916 and 1918. These periods covered the main battles fought in the area. 1917 still had many smaller actions and one mustn't think of it in isolation. The Somme Battles of 1916 from 1st July to 14th November started with the blowing up of 17 underground mines. The largest being at La Boiselle and which is now known as Lochnagar Crater. It was timed for 0728 hours on the 1st and at 0730 hours, 2 minutes later, 60,000 British soldiers climbed out of their trenches and formed up lines stretching from Serre to Maricourt; a distance of some 14 miles. The advance of the troops had been preceded by artillery bombardments since 24th June, when over 3,000,000 shells had been used. The assumption was that this shelling would destroy the enemy positions. Thus the troops were instructed to advance through the smoke in strict silence as there would be little opposition. However, because of failures in some shells, casings split, faulty copper bands, fuses stuck in gun bores etc; and the deep trenches of the Germans; the German machine gunners were able to gain the trench tops before the British arrived at the trenches. This resulted in many British soldiers falling at the barbed wire defences of the German trenches….mown down at close range. At the end of the first day there were virtually no gains north of the Albert to Bapaume road, whilst between la Boiselle and Fricourt the advance was less than half a mile.

The action slowed for the next two weeks. The planning seemed to only concern the first attack on the 1st July, with no follow up planning taking place. Two weeks later came the attacks at Bazentin le Petit, High and Delville woods. 20,000 men attacked and over-ran five miles of the German second lines of defence. However Delville wood took 6 days for the South African forces to overcome the German troops. After this things settled down to a series of local fighting. Everything became bogged down….just like Ypres.

By August 1916 the trials on the "Tank" had been successful and production was started. This culminated in the first tank attack on 15th September 1916. This had such an effect on the German troops that it brought the largest one day gains of the war.

It is reckoned that British casualties on the Somme were 58,000 on the 1st July alone, and a total of 420,000 over the full period.

Gallipoli Peninsula.
In January 1915 Russia appealed for help against the Central Powers. It was decided to open up another front by sending a naval expedition to force the Dardanelles Straits and take Constantinople (Istanbul). This would eliminate Turkey from the war and allow Russia some respite. The result of fierce resistance by the Turks in the Dardanelles led to the Mediteranean Expeditionary Force landing on Gallipoli. The landings took place on 25th April by British, Australian and New Zealand forces. In all some 145,000 men were landed that day; and a total of 490,000 were eventually used in the area. The most notable action of local interest was that of the Lancashire Fusiliers, 1st Battalion who won 6 Victoria Crosses before breakfast at W beach, which was soon to be named "Lancashire Landing" in their honour. They suffered severe losses. Out of 950 Officers and men they lost 6 officers and 183 men killed, 4 officers and 279 men wounded and 61 men missing in action; a total of 533 casualties. Indeed, the Lancashire Fusiliers War Diary for 5.30am on the 25th, with great understatement, has the entry "Landed under heavy fire from machine guns and rifles from cliffs. Heavy casualties. Several men hit in boats and in water before getting ashore".

For several months little progress was made until again the Lancashire Fusiliers, along with other troops, made a landing at Suvla Bay in August 1915. Again the battles became static with troops tied down into yet another trench based war of attrition. As the situation became hopeless through disease and the weather, the order was given for a withdrawal. This was carried out in late December 1915 and early January 1916 and was completed with virtually no losses. It was probably one of the few successes of the campaign.

The War Poets.
The events experienced by the ordinary soldiers have been immortalised by many serving soldier poets. Among the most well known are, Wilfred Owen, Ivor Gurney, Edmund Blunden, Rupert Brooke Siegfried Sassoon and John McCrae, who wrote:-

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

I would encourage you to read a few of these poems…….and feel the sorrow, friendship, fear, desperation and emotions of these events. Virtually every family will have had someone who served in the Great War.

Shot at Dawn.
One aspect of the Great War was the execution of some soldiers for alleged cowardice, desertion etc. At present we have a greater understanding of stress and trauma. Nowadays we would consider the experiences of being shelled for days on end to lead to medical conditions such as post traumatic stress. During the Great War 306 British and Empire soldiers were executed for conditions that we may now consider to be the result of stress trauma. It appears that these soldiers were executed with the major concern being, not justice, but "keeping up the morale of the troops".

Ernest Thurtle (1884-1954), MP and death penalty abolitionist said:-
"There is no doubt that these shootings in cold blood of men for desertion and cowardice (so called) are repugnant to the great majority of the people of this country".

Greater knowledge can be gained by reference to the leaflet "Shot at Dawn - The Facts and The Campaign" and also the website www.shotatdawn.org.uk. The campaign is to obtain a pardon for these men (NOT for those charged with murder and other civil offences).

Nations involved.
Many Nations where involved in providing troops and support during this "World War".
On the Allied side were Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Russia, United States, Japan, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, These also included forces from Countries with colonial links such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, The West Indies, India, Nepal, or other links as Senegal, China, etc. Forming up on the side of the Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria and their empire / dominion countries.

Many sources have been used for this short explanation. These have included:-

Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield guide to the Somme and Battle Map ISBN 0-85052-414-8
Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield guide Ypres Salient and Battle Map ISBN 0-85052-551-9
"Somme" by Lyn Macdonald ISBN 0-7181-2254-2
Collins Dictionary of Wars by George Bruce ISBN 0-00-470726-5
"Before Endeavours Fade" by Rose Coombs, MBE. ISBN 0-900913-85-1
Ypres in War and Peace. A Pitkin guide. ISBN 0-85372-610-8
"Chorley Pals" by John M. Garwood ISBN 1-85216-037-3
"Gallipoli" by Michael Hickey ISBN 0-7195-5550-7
"Men of Gallipoli" by Peter Liddle ISBN 0-7153-9206-9

Poems of The Great War 1914-1918, Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-118103-6
The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon , int by Rupert Hart-Davis ISBN 0-571-13015-1

The Story of The Great War. Video by WH Smith CVI 1842
Gallipoli 1915. Video by WH Smith CVI 1914
World War 1 in colour. DVD by Fremantle Media FHED 1709

I hope that you have found interest in these notes and that you will explore this history for yourselves.