The Battles of Verdun and the Somme
As I explained in this posting, for my recent birthday some friends gave me the box set of the groundbreaking 1964 BBC series on “The Great War”. There are 26 episodes and I have now viewed 15.
The most recent episodes that I have watched cover two battles that involved casualties that were so huge as to be barely comprehensible.
The Battle of Verdun lasted from February – December 1916. It was fought between French and German armies and the number of those killed and injured is now thought to be almost one million.
The Battle of the Somme took place from July – November 1916. It was a conflict between British & French armies and that of the Germans. The number killed and injured was over one million, making it one of the bloodiest conflicts in history.
In each case, the Allies ‘won’ the battle but very little land changed hands and the war itself was far from over. This vast slaughter was not in the distant past but just one century ago.