Nashville | 03 Jul 2016 12:53 p.m. PST |
GREAT article --- he was on the Somme.link
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tkdguy | 03 Jul 2016 2:14 p.m. PST |
Interesting article. Thanks for sharing! |
charared | 03 Jul 2016 2:14 p.m. PST |
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Onomarchos | 03 Jul 2016 3:46 p.m. PST |
Yes, thanks so much for sharing. I had no idea that J.R.R.T was an officer during WWI. Mark |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 03 Jul 2016 6:53 p.m. PST |
There's a very good,deeply researched book on the subject from a dozen years ago: link I don't yet have the newer book by the article's author. |
Coelacanth1938 | 03 Jul 2016 7:46 p.m. PST |
Gives me an idea for a fantasy campaign: there's a magical fantasy kingdom that's trapped inside a "time bubble" on a WWI battlefield. Nobody from the kingdom can leave without getting shot, bombed, or gassed. It would certainly fit in with some of the paranormal folklore I've read about. |
Mithmee | 03 Jul 2016 8:32 p.m. PST |
Well we are lucky that he did not need to go "Over the Top". Because if he did we would not have either the Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. |
Hafen von Schlockenberg | 03 Jul 2016 9:35 p.m. PST |
We are lucky. But we also lost a great deal of poetry and literature from those who didn't come back,Tolkien's friends among them. Read the book I referenced above,"Tolkien and the Great War" for a sense of how much. |
Mithmee | 04 Jul 2016 8:40 a.m. PST |
Well that what happens when you try and fight a 20 Century War with 19 Century tactics. The generals back then were idiots. Plus they did not learn that frontal attacks were not working. They just kept on throwing more men into the meat grinder. |
Zargon | 04 Jul 2016 11:27 a.m. PST |
Mithmee,yes those were different times and all sides were using war of attrition tactics and guess what, they learnt differing tactics for the next war, and the butchers bill was even higher in that one. The stupidness was everyman believing they were on the side of right. The folly killed many but gave us today the reality of war and such superb literature such as LOTRs. All loss is sad but all lessons learnt from such loss must be jealously guarded. Lest we forget. |
cmdr kevin | 04 Jul 2016 7:47 p.m. PST |
Actually they were using 20th century tactics, they already had broken the army down into small independent units of no more than 10 men each. Each attack was a different mix of ideas; timing, artillery, weather, numbers, prep times etc. Because of the trenches every attack had to be a frontal assault, there were no flanks any more. |