Reposted from four years ago.

[clanwilliam]

No close relative of mine fought in either war - those of my relatives who were of the right age to fight in the first war were a bit too busy gearing up for a different war, and none of my relatives were the right age for the second war had they been inclined to join up (my mother's family might have done - my father's certainly wouldn't

Comments

[caerleon]

ETA 2008: For every person who died for a reason they believed in, hundreds died for no reason but the idiotic and criminal egos of those in power. And it continues to this day.Well.. ish.. people join the army in the UK for all sorts of reasons.. some join because they think they should.. some join because they think they can get good tuition in a trade.. some join because they think they should *and* they can get good tuition in a trade..some join because their parents joined.. some think "it's got to be better than being unemployed".. some think "at least if I join up I might make a mate or two

[oursin]

I read in the Guardian TV review column the other day that someone had been on that 'Who Do You Think You Are' programme and discovered that his grandfather (great-grandfather?) had been largely responsible for one of the more disastrous battles of WWI (Paschendale? The Somme?) through sheer pigheaded refusal to consider anyone else's advice.