Sixty eight years ago, today...

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:45 am

World War 2 began.
It would claim the lives of unknown millions of people from all over the world, see the rise and fall of one of the most genocidal regimes in history and see the deployment of the first atomic bomb.

May their sacrifice never be forgotten.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 12:25 pm

Rochey wrote:May their sacrifice never be forgotten.

So say we all.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:00 pm

*bows head*

...

Post by **Teaos** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:35 pm

It's getting to the point were we are getting short of veterans for WWII. When that happens I wonder how much we will remember. You don't hear much at all about WWI anymore unless you look into in personally and that killed millions to.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:53 pm

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

As far as WWI goes, Canada's last WWI Vet just died this summer. So we're now in the realm of historical memory.

Bryan Moore · Post by **Bryan Moore** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 5:51 pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

As far as WWI goes, Canada's last WWI Vet just died this summer. So we're now in the realm of historical memory.

Yeah, there's under 20 left in the world, I believe.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 7:28 pm

Bryan Moore wrote:
Yeah, there's under 20 left in the world, I believe.

And some of them never actually reached the front.

Bryan Moore · Post by **Bryan Moore** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:20 pm

Cpl Kendall wrote:
Bryan Moore wrote:
Yeah, there's under 20 left in the world, I believe.
And some of them never actually reached the front.

Yeah, I think there's a few even who were deployed during the war in various non-combat areas. For example I know there's a US guy who served in that era, but was on coastal duty at home.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:37 pm

Only twenty? Wow, never knew there were that few.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:41 pm

Rochey wrote:Only twenty? Wow, never knew there were that few.

Well, it's almost ninety years ago - even the youngest are well over a hundred.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:49 pm

Good point. Its hard to believe it was so long ago.

Post by **Teaos** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:22 am

The way that war was fought is so far removed from modern times that its hard to relate to it.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 11:18 am

Teaos wrote:The way that war was fought is so far removed from modern times that its hard to relate to it.

Ironically, many of the tactics used by modern armies were first developed on the Western Front. Tanks, close air support, strategic bombing and fire-and-manoeuvre were all introduced in an attempt to break the deadlock. Technology may have advanced since then, but the fundamentals haven't changed much.

Post by **Teaos** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:13 pm

The very basics are the same but we have gotten past the "Walk slowly towards the enemy guns" strategy that killed a couple of million people.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Sun Sep 02, 2007 12:20 pm

Teaos wrote:The very basics are the same but we have gotten past the "Walk slowly towards the enemy guns" strategy that killed a couple of million people.

True, but the methods I mentioned were the solutions developed in 1917/18 once they'd figured out that the "walk slowly towards the enemy" tactic wasn't working.