Quote of the Day

The following is an excerpt from John Keegan’s book The First World War describing the second day of the Battle of Artois:

In early afternoon they moved forward in ten columns ‘each [of] about a thousand men, all advancing as if carrying out a parade-ground drill.’ The German defenders were astounded by the sight of an ‘entire front covered with the [British] infantry.’ They stood up, some even on the parapet of the trench, and fired triumphantly into the mass of men advancing across the open grassland. The machine gunners had opened fire at 1,500 yards range. ‘Never had machine guns had such straightforward work to do … with barrels becoming hot and swimming in oil, they traversed to and fro along the [British] ranks; one machine gun alone fired 12,500 rounds that afternoon. The effect was devastating. The [British] could be seen falling literally in hundreds, but they continued their march in good order and without interruption’ until they reached the unbroken wire of the German’s second position: ‘Confronted by this impenetrable obstacle the survivors turned and began to retire.’
The survivors were a bare majority of those who had come forward. Of the 15,000 infantry of the 21st and 24th Divisions, over 8,000 had been killed or wounded. Their German enemies, nauseated by the spectacle of the ‘corpse field of Loos,’ held their fire as the British turned in retreat, ‘so great was the feeling of compassion and mercy after such a victory.’

Posted by on April 18th, 2010 at 11:08 pm


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