End Of The Beginning

I watched a lot of the coverage of the start of World War One. Instead of the usual images of going over the top there was a lot about the men themselves. The shows seemed to talked about the men rather than the war. It was about celebrating them not the costly victory four years later. I am old enough to have met a few of the survivors. From what I am told about them they almost never spoke about the war. Those that did never spoke about the trenches. My family has two death plaques. These were for men I could have and should have known.

I am a wargamer but I aim to learn from it not to glorify it. As David Drake said “The use of force is always an answer to problems...[It] isn't an attractive answer, though.” I am sure the men on the Somme felt the same and I am sure the residents on either side of the Gaza border or in the Ukraine feel the same now.