tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post3242370983354104748..comments2024-03-28T17:50:17.529+00:00Comments on Wargaming Miscellany: Shrouds of the SommeRobert (Bob) Corderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-63898730704599629092018-11-18T09:31:13.467+00:002018-11-18T09:31:13.467+00:00Archduke Piccolo,
From what I can remember - and ...Archduke Piccolo,<br /><br />From what I can remember - and it was over fifty years ago - my school had a complete set of bound magazines that were published during the Great War. It was out-and-out propaganda, full of heroic images and descriptions of Hunnish brutality. I've never read Conan Doyle's history of the war in France, but I suspect that it will not be too dissimilar.<br /><br />'Lions led by donkeys'? Certainly lions, but as the war progressed, I think that there were fewer and fewer donkeys, and that 'Chateau Generals' - whilst they existed - tended to be those at the very top of the command pyramid. One only has to compare the number of British generals killed or captured in action during the First and Second World Wars to see that. (I think that the numbers are 243 for the First World War and approximately 28 for the Second World War.)<br /><br />Attrition was a totally flawed concept, but it was driven by a desire to end the war quickly and a belief that the Germans were suffering heavier casualties than the Allies. What would have made sense (its a wonderful thing, hindsight!) would have been to sit tight, let the Germans do the attacking, and rely on the blockade to starve the Germans to the negotiating table. The war would have lasted years longer, but the number of Allied deaths would probably have been much lower.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />BobRobert (Bob) Corderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13109130990434792266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6933470253715910366.post-87215865636527031582018-11-17T21:54:46.990+00:002018-11-17T21:54:46.990+00:00I have started reading Arthur Conan Doyle's hi...I have started reading Arthur Conan Doyle's history of the "British Campaign in France and Flanders" - not your usual sort of account, and something of a hagiography. Most of what I have read of that campaign have tended to the 'lions led by donkey's' school of thought, with which, on the whole, I'm inclined to agree. 'Attrition' was (is) a bankrupt strategy that came near to bankrupt a generation of its people.<br /> Archduke Piccolohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533325665451889661noreply@blogger.com