|
|
Article: What we must never forget; For years, liberals poured scorn on the 'futility' of the Great War. Here, on the anniversary of the Somme, a leading historian commemorates the sacrifice which led to one of the greatest of all victories.
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- July 2, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: CORRELLI BARNETT
ON THIS day 85 years ago, 19,000 British soldiers - almost all of them volunteers who had heeded Lord Kitchener's call to join up - lay dead across the battlefield of the Somme.
They were the grimmest statistic in the appalling total of 57,000 casualties sustained on July 1, 1916, the first day of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's grand offensive - casualties suffered without a single significant hole being punched in the enemy defences, except in a sector next to the French.
This was a catastrophe without parallel in British military history.
The full, dreadful picture reached Haig only gradually across a gulf ...