Oh, and it's kinda hard to ignore the Canadians in that particular battle, as they're the ones who finally managed to take the town after everyone else failed miserably. It was a bloody, Pyrrhic victory, mind. But they still kicked major ass. :)
The Brits tend to bury their heads in the sand when you meantion any war really. They stuffed up so bad so many times, it's kind of embarrassing for them. They sent men in places and ordered them to do things that you wouldn't order a dog to do. Those in charge never gave a shit about the soldiers. Over here the poppies are well known, and for the right reasons. We have what we call ANZAC day. It 'celebrates' New Zealand and Australian soldiers that fought in all the wars, even Vietnam. But mainly it's about WW1. I've never liked calling it the Great War, never made sense to me. We make sure our children know what happened, they need to know and be proud that the men of this little country fought for our freedom. We have incredible respect for our soldiers!
It was funny in the theatre last night because there were two boys sitting in the row in front of me who got in the habit of punching the air and saying, "Yay, Canada!" during certain points in the film. However, the one kid obviously has to work on his reading and comprehension skills because he said, "Yay, Canada!" after a line came up on the screen saying that the enemy front took Passchendaele back the following year. I was tempted to point out that this was not a "Yay, Canada!" moment as all those men essentially sacrificed their lives for nothing. I mean, it was definitely heroic, and a big victory at the time, but what did it accomplish in the end?
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Over here the poppies are well known, and for the right reasons. We have what we call ANZAC day. It 'celebrates' New Zealand and Australian soldiers that fought in all the wars, even Vietnam. But mainly it's about WW1. I've never liked calling it the Great War, never made sense to me. We make sure our children know what happened, they need to know and be proud that the men of this little country fought for our freedom. We have incredible respect for our soldiers!
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Absolutely nothing. That's the real tragedy of Passchendaele: all that suffering, all those lives lost for nothing at all.