do not forget who started both world wars. Not coincidence.

@@brudgerfrudger2174 Politicians, aristocrats, greedy men who wanted to build an empire. All wars are declared by old men. But it is young men who are forced to die for them.

If you haven't read or watched, All's quiet on the western front , you should give it a look its from the Germans perspective , you will probably like it

@@brudgerfrudger2174 so they are less human?

I remember seeing a lot of photographs and stills of the first units of the PPCLI when I was in DP1 and 2. They adorned the walls and I always had an interest in looking at then whenever we had a break, there were stories of when some units were captured, the Germans thought they had captured giants, as the smallest man was 5' 11"

My great grandfather got shot in the hip. He spent his entire life after that on morphine. He was one crazy driver so my mother said. She was in a car with him at a train crossing. He thought he might just run that train over

Furll What?!?!

My great grandfather was also in this battle. He got hit by shrapnel in the back and then shot through the jaw while looking for help on the battle field. He survived and lived with pieces of metal in his back for the rest of his life.

The Canadians fought as bravely as all the allies.🇨🇦🇨🇦.

What a poor sod . I class these medics and stretcher bearers the Bravest of the Brave

Hero. Ex24 fldamb

so too was my Great Grandfather a medic. He did not survive. Cannot imagine what this must have felt like.

@@harryedwards9391 Well yeah, they were right at the front line

Poor man. I hate war.

Only the men that were killed will have seen the end of war.

The connection is the War itself.

@@rachaeldangelo1337 Plato, well done.

My great grandfather was also in the 2nd battalion RIR. Killed 22nd August 1916 at the Somme. Body recovered in a trench at thiepval wood

I have only recently discovered that I had 2 grand-uncles who died in WWI - Uncle James died at the 1st battle of the Somme & Uncle George at Ypes. My grandfather Sam was injured 5 times, won the Military Medal in 1917 & survived. Ordinary men who performed heroically.

Oh had they died by Pearse's side or fought with Cathal Brugha their names we'd keep where the Fenians sleep 'neath the shroud of the foggy dew.

My gg died first day of the somme , heros all of them

It's my dream to join the royal Irish

Watch EUROPA the last battle.

I agree. I remember being taught so much in both middle and high school about WWII, but the Great War - which is just as important a scar on modern history, if not more so - was given a few weeks' time in my social studies class in high school. It wasn't until much later that I started learning more about it.

As an Australian the great war was by far the worst war per capita for our country. We used to learn a lot about Gallipoli but not much about the western front despite the ANZACs playing a vital role there. I know we weren't involved in the Somme but we certainly were on the western front. Unfortunately I fear it's not part of the school curriculum anymore.

Likely none of this footage was actually from WW1 but from reenactments. Footage exists but very little has been digitized and the footage that has been you can barely tell what you are looking at.

They really were living at a time where military strategies hadn't quite caught up with the times as well. Getting mowed down by machine guns knowing there's no possibility for a retreat order to come....horrifying. Absolutely horrifying!!

You don‘t read memoires of soldiers in history class? I can give you a list if u want

Also, Dan Carlin.

@@Based_Druid Blueprint for Armageddon. Amazing podcast

@@johnhowe6178 That’s the one. Thank you, the name was eluding me.

I hope you realize something most young people never do before reaching the age of enlistment, including myself. When the rich wage war it's the poor who die.

@@benghazi4216 yes, sadly that is true

well guess I'm not the only one

@@Jasspero jeez calm down do you have any fellings?

Unfortunately, it took something like WW1 to finish moulding Tolkien.

Tolkien said that he took model from the courage of simple british soldier during this war for the character of Samwise Gamgee. And Tolkien lost all his best friends in this war, friends from college he shared with his researches about the new language he was creating ... very sad. He thinks probably about these friends (and certainly to the dead of this war) when at the end of "the lord of the ring" he makes Frodo explains that sometimes, it's necessary that some have to abandon certain things so that others can continue to enjoy them.

Which came first, the genius or the trauma?

@@ti-lo5hy Given he was an Oxford graduate in English language and literature with first class honours before he left for the war, I'd say the genius was definitely already there.

Your grandad was a legend. It’s a shame that not everyone was so lucky. ❤️

@George Thomas not uncommon; my grandad fought at ypres after lying about being only 15 to the recruiting guy. Survived war despite being shot, hit by shell fragments and gassed, went down the pit for next thirty years and fire watched in ww2. They don't make them like those boys anymore. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🙏❤

@@paulm6455 Can you imagine a 14 year old now going to war.

I bet he got grounded for a year after pulling that stunt.

As a Frenchman from the Somme, I say thanks to your grandfather ❤️

I hear you. Same here.

I read the book 1914 by Max Hastings 7 times..I get angry every time...!!!

Same for me, my great grandfathers uncle fought in it. He fought for Canada and was originally from Ireland. I think he either fought in the Somme, passchendaele or both. He survived, all veterans should be remembered with utmost respect and all the fallen who won’t throw old just so we can

sounds like indigestion

I guess for many that were actually there it was traumatic to talk about it, and somethng many soldiers wanted to forget. Post traumatic stress syndrom was talked about after the Vietnam war, but of course it must have existed also 1914-1918. Glad Your granddad survived. Otherwise maybey You wouldn´t have existed.

@@svenerikjohansson8130 thank you

May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

@@keeley-jasminemaxinecavend9780 that's beautiful

Seriously... Crazy.

And then imagine having to right back into the trenches and do the whole thing over again and again, day after day....

@@scottadkins7322 for another 2 and a half years

I couldn't imagine it. How did you get through it?

You don’t think the massive casualties would be obvious to someone who was there and survived? 🤔

I don't know if our generation is less noble and less warm but these men do deserve commendation

They were more inoccent in some way and more worthy.

you also have to think about the censorship in place if anything was written in a way that wasnt "honorable"

People were smarter back then.

​@@huntclanhunt9697 letters were also censored back then....alot of changes were made to original letters

You 'thank the service' of the opposing combatants of two nations you're not of from a time you didn't exist.. ? 100% Polyethylene mate?

@@Dave-hu5hr Your sentence construct is appalling. Also, can you not appreciate the sentiment? 100% Troll.

You should look into the battle for Okinawa in Feb. 1945; or more recently, the Battle of Roberts Ridge in Afghanistan...

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm, sharing is caring.

And may many of them ressurect in glory when it´s time

My great uncle died in the Somme it is such a waste of young life.

@@elizabethhayward570 That's sad to hear and indeed it was, how old was your Great uncle when he went to the somme?

@@marcushill1674 I think he was about 22 he had emigrated to Australia. His family here thought he would not be called up.

@@elizabethhayward570 That's crazy and very unfortunate, so did he serve with the Australian Army or did he make the journey back to the UK? regardless the sacrifices made is nothing short astonishing, sorry for all the questions

He died a hero and he will always be remembered

Thank you for your service.

Dare I ask whats a Bear run?

@@serwombles8816 probably meant beer run

Thank you for your service

To be fair , bear running sounds dangerous

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), 1917 (2019), They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)

@@VitaKet Okay - four way tie, and I might add All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

*@Matthew McClure.* We have to recognize that the US Supreme commander during WWII Dwight Eisenhower cared about each and every soldier and was always carefully planning any offensive to minimize casualties before landing the troops in France, he even was very upset and reprimanded some generals, including Paton and Montgomery for their recklessness. However for me Montgomery was still a great military commander.

Well, you're not going to enjoy this, Matt... Henry Rawlinson didn't suffer because of the Somme. He was later appointed to lead the 5th Army and commanded the Battle of Amiens, where he showed that he had, at least, the brains to learn from his mistakes - the Battle of Amiens was staged on a narrow front with limited objectives and without the prior bombardment that achieved so little, other than warning the Germans. It was deemed a success and at the close of World War One, parliament passed a vote of thanks for his work and gave him a reward of 30,000 pounds. The next year he was elevated to the peerage as the 1st Baron Rawlinson. After the war he went on to command the Indian Army, where he was a proponent of taking a firm hand with the rebels. In addition to being appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, he was also appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and, late in his career, Knight Grand Commander of the Order of India. He died in Delhi after a surgery on his stomach in 1925 and was buried with some pomp in the chapel of the Order of St Michael and St George. So, yeah, he made out a lot better than the poor men he commanded at the Somme and, despite presiding over the biggest disaster in Military history, had a glittering career...

The generals were only doing what the politicians demanded. London demanded a major breakthrough, and the generals used their best efforts to deliver it. They tried to maximise its chances by a massive bombardment but at that time a major infantry attack was standard - remember this was before the tank or airplane was developed. There was no alternative. This was a ghastly war. But the men who fought in it didn’t share our sensitivities. They were proud of their country and of doing their duty. They died knowing this. It was a different world utterly to ours. That said, we cannot avoid applying our values to it and when we do that we cannot understand it.

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm, sharing is caring.

@@JDD8888 how do you know it’s true?

@Logan Jones. 1970s

@Logan Jones. Harry patch who fought in the 3rd battle of Ypres or Passchendaele lived to be 111 dying in 2009 he was wounded in groin & went on to have 3 wife’s & 2 children. I think the desire to live when you have seen complete horror, breeds a distinct spirit.

Kent Tekulve the last U.K. veterans of the Somme are dead Anyone who served in 1916, would be over 100 years old.

Kent Tekulve are from Britain or were they German or commonwealth troops.

@@ryleeroseborough7885 Nono, he knew two veterans in the 1970s.

Great comment.

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm.

@@JDD8888 EUROPA the last battle is just Socialist propaganda, akin to communist propaganda really.

Nicely said

Hi My Great Grandad was in the first world war, remember him having a flashback.. Remember my Grandad saying to me, they said you come home fit for a king, how they lied. My Grandad went to Germany, I asked what's it like, he said lovely people and polite.. My Great Grandad also past away in 79. Aged 90.. Still got a Postcard with German Solders on it..

And may many of them ressurect in glory when that time comes

my Grand-Grandfather descriped the same at the german side, he ( already older at that time ) saw very young soldiers marching, singing and smiling and when they stepped around the corner and saw the battlefield you could litrally see that everything inside of these man changed totaly at the spot; after battle you could hear the word "Mama" from all sides

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm.

Didn't grow up on a council estate did you?

My great uncle joined up at 15 he didn’t make his 18th birthday.

@@MetalFan10101 Nor did I grow up in the projects, as we'd say in America (I think those terms are comparable? I had to Google).

@@murderc27 I think that’s his point

That hatred is still alive and well in some parts of the country, my brothers wife from Oldeburg had to change her specialty from gerontology to pediatrics, due to some of the experiences she had working with old people in southern Jutland. You can't really blame the people that went through this, it takes a long time to forgive and even longer to forget.

​@@erikrungemadsen2081You had some satisfaction with the refugees in 45/46 at least

Is that the reason why Denmark surrendered just after 6 hours in the 1940 war against Germany?

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm.

@@JDD8888 thank you for your suggestion.. but the war being portrayed in this excellent film is World War I aka The Great War.

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto I know brother, I'm pretty sure EUROPA covers ww1 also but i could be wrong it's been a while since i watched it.

Checkout American civil war letter writing then...

Sadly that is lacking today.

Not to downplay it, but millions of letters were written. I'm sure these few you hear about is handpicked for quality. Average, barely educated farmhands, miners and factory workers didn't write like this.

@@marrs1013 I served in Afghanistan in 2010, my regiment lost 18 men with about double that losing limbs, it was my regiments worst fighting since the Korean war, I never returned letters to my family because it gave me a massive surge of emotion and made me feel like I was writing my "last" letter. Its a very strange experience to put pen to paper to family back at home I always wonder how many lads had the same emotiona as me during the world wars

People were smarter then. The further you go back, the more brilliant they were.

They need to make a big budget film that shows ww1 in depth, like saving private Ryan.

I wouldn’t go that far

Agreed

@@louisvuitton56 ,

I disagree have you never seen Slam dunk Ernest, Bio dome, the green lantern?

the last ww1 veteran died in 2012, and the last veteran to see combat died in 2009

There's a fantastic book about the last living veteran to see combat. It's call the last fighting tommy

Thank you for sharing. Ed Stoppard is great in this film. His performance in The Pianist was so memorable.

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm.

It would be great if you could share a few of those stories with us.

What country do u live in?

@@ImGoingSupersonic Best country on earth Canada

@@ImGoingSupersonic Canada

Thank you for sharing that simple anecdote. It reveals a lot about who those people were and it is real.

The truth is, there were 100s of battles just like the Somme.

@@bensmith7932 Since the Battle of the Somme cost 1M men, then that would mean hundreds of millions of men were lost. So that’s not true.

@@bensmith7932 No, not really. This was the worst day in British military history.

Read some of the War poets from that time, their works give you some idea of what these people experienced, felt, and thought.

@@erikrungemadsen2081 *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. That is why we have poppies on Remembrance Day. Written By Lt.Col John McCrae, Canadian Expeditionary Force: McCrae fought in the Second Battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium, where the German army launched one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. They attacked French positions north of the Canadians with chlorine gas on April 22, 1915 but were unable to break through the Canadian line, which held for over two weeks. In a letter written to his mother, McCrae described the battle as a "nightmare", For seventeen days and seventeen nights none of us have had our clothes off, nor our boots even, except occasionally. In all that time while I was awake, gunfire and rifle fire never ceased for sixty seconds ... And behind it all was the constant background of the sights of the dead, the wounded, the maimed, and a terrible anxiety lest the line should give way. - McCrae Alexis Helmer, a close friend, was killed during the battle on May 2. McCrae performed the burial service himself, at which time he noted how poppies quickly grew around the graves of those who died at Ypres. The next day, he composed the poem while sitting in the back of an ambulance at an Advanced Dressing Station outside Ypres. This location is today known as the John McCrae Memorial Site. Coincidentally, he died of the "Spanish Flu" On January 28, 1918, while still commanding No. 3 Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne.

How cool to have such a rich heritage-SALUTE!

My great granfather was one of those first ones sent to france. I have his medals and death plaque.

@@kieranhughes4535 i dont have much info at all. My granfather was the one who knew everything. All i have 2 medals amd the death plaque. The only info i have is he went mia during a campaimg in france. Im sure he was in the argyle and sutherland highlanders. And due to there only being 2 medals he died before the end of 1916.

@@kieranhughes4535very true.. i would like to know more about him. His name is on a memorial in france according to my aunt.

The fact that he lived the whole way is nuts

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm, sharing is caring.

@Andrew Carter beautifully stated. 🥀☯️♾☯️🥀

💚🙏🏻

Also 22 and self proclaimed. I try my best to tell my peers about it but I feel like nobody cares and I’m just so shocked how little people know what this world has gone thru.

23 here living in Colorado.

Keep it up guys 👍👍

Agreed. I’m 26 and most people I know don’t care to learn about this stuff. It’s important history. It shaped the world we live in today.

Which half?

So was that a german camera filming the british coming overin the distance? Very eery feeling watching this clip

@@David_brent Footage from British lines. It's very difficult to make out the individuals but they are attacking from right to left. There is a cut in the original footage so as not to show the troops falling en masse.

@@donathandorko i wish peter jackson added this clip into that colourised documentary....i see a couple soldiers drop at the bottom center which made me think they were attacking the direction they were being filmed.....i want to find more on this footage but its all so restricted finding it on the internet

@@David_brent Yeah when I first seen it as a kid i thought it was from a German trench too, because it looks like soldiers coming over a bluff towards the camera. But its taken from a movie from 1916. search 'Battle of the Somme (1916 film)' and you can watch the whole film. Lots of interesting real footage (and a couple of staged scenes too).

@@donathandorko appreciate your help mate all the best👍

Well that didn’t play out too well for Tsar Nicholas unfortunately.

shooting those surrendering german soldiers is what was tearing him up

They were all so brave ❤

Agreed, the tense situation would be horrible.

I think the conditions in ww1 were way worse than ww2, there were just a lot more battles happening in ww2

@@Ivan-mh8ul yea i always thought ww1 was worse for the individual but on a international scale it was worse in ww2

@@haroldfiedler6549 bruh

Look at the state of the World. It's hardly "liberated"

Saddest thing is, it's difficult to comprehend what it was all for. Certainly not our liberty in WWI.

Well the neighbors started it!!!

John Triplett they didn’t have a choice, if you were healthy you fought or you were seen as a coward and treated like one so what would you have done in that situation?

John Triplett Cool-SALUTE!

And make sure your children know too.

*in those months

Well said.. Very well said....

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm, sharing is caring.

Bravo for your great grandfather's service!

Whatever we are going through today, doesn't compare to those in ww1. Remember that when you need to

@@PaidSearch Since I really dug down into WW1 in 2018 that's a big thing which has helped me. Whenever I feel something is hard I think of these incredible men and immediately the problem doesn't bother me the same way at all.

That's because you are a decent human with a functional brain. Unfortunately people like you are becoming less common.

We will be at Civil War here soon,that seems to be what the Elites have planned for the Working class..smfh

Hudson C-20 I agree. If I ever make it to France I will definitely visit the Somme. I have visited the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania and it was quite an experience.

Strange feeling isn't it, you can drive along the front through all these tiny villages and hamlets and you continually come across these cemeteries containing 50+ graves of Commonwealth soldiers if not far more. Really puts the scale of the battle into perspective.

I did visit . by accident and i think you are very right. Everybody should. It makes you very quiet.

@Mike Townsend it makes you want to cry . With the first graveyard you think oh yes problably ww1. it is the Somme. But it does get meaning when the graveyards full of young people don't stop. They go on, and on and on. And when you think well there can't be more. There are. It is very sad and you feel something terrible happened. . I was just driving we didnt stop but it makes you think. what kind of people are we? So threat them with respect and everybody should pay a visit.

When I went to a crater from an undermining explosion at the Somme, there was an eerie feeling knowing that many Germans were killed in an instant there, then other Germans captured and set up machine guns to cut down the approaching British. I can’t recommend enough that people visit these places to understand the reality of that terrible conflict.

Watch EUROPA the last battle, it's a true factual account of WW2, 12 hour documentary that may very well shift your paradigm, sharing is caring.

@@JDD8888 I will gladly add it to my list but nothing will shake my respect for those who fought in the World Wars.