[The Great War] A Trivial Sacrifice (Great Britain)

[N00B5600]

My name is Jason D. W. Anderson, Sergeant, No. 3 Company, 89th Rifle Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, British Army. I will most likely die tomorrow. The war is surely the one to end all wars, for the horrors I have seen here are so different to the images of war I had envisioned as a lad. I imagined the deadly accuracy of our infantry destroying the enemy before they could shoot back, glorious cavalry charges on fleeing enemies, and many marches over the broken corpses of our enemies.



Sadly, this is not the case. The reality is very different. I have seen entire battalions literally mowed down by machine guns. Seen soldiers scream in pain and cry like babies after a shell took their limbs. Witnessed pools of corpse-ridden mud, mixed with blood. Seen men and horses die in a vain attempt to close the gap, they mangled bodies marking the absolute furthest we had advanced. And this happened to both sides.

The ultimate culmination of these years of slaughter will be witnessed tomorrow, and I believe that everyone will die. The thought once disturbed me, but now I welcome death as a permanent respite from this madness. I do, however, leave this account, as a warning to future soldiers about the dangers of the glorification of war.




________________________________________________________________

Oh, I still remember that fateful day. The day the British Expeditionary Force, with its experienced, professional, soldiers was completely destroyed. We had let down our guard due to the string of victories over the Germans in the early months of the war. Expecting another great victory, we advanced.



It was a complete massacre.




I myself barely dodged a shell and returned to our lines. We won the battle, of course, but it was the artillery which saved our war effort. It was then when i started to become disillusioned. I saw many good, dead, men be replaced by incompetent volunteers who thought they were destined to be heroes.

Perhaps I went a little too far ahead - I think that whomever ends up picking up this testament, if you will, must know the story from beginning to end.

I was always in the Army since before the beginning of this cursed war. My unit was based in Kent, and had an actual base, not the godforsaken dugouts we have now. Good times. No bullets whizzing around, no shells exploding everywhere, and comfortable sleeping quarters.



When the war broke out, we were not immediately mobilised. I recall myself actually being impatient to get to the Front, still deluded with foolish notions of glory and honour. I thought I would go to France, shoot a few Huns, and be back home by Christmas.

How wrong I was to be.......

[♔The Lizard King♔]

Keep going, good sir.

+rep

[N00B5600]

On the 3rd of March, 1914, I made landfall with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force under the command of General Morris McDowell near Caen. We then alternated from marching along roads and taking trains to reach the front.



When we reached Reims on the 16th of March, we heard rumours of a failed French assault on Strasbourg, which left Reims, now lacking a garrison, wide open to a counterattack. Thus, General McDowell marched us west the neutralise Strasbourg, which we reached on the 1st of April.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We took the city with minor casualties, mainly inflicted by German snipers who hid in the bush. I myself killed my first human being that day. My platoon was told to take a building, and from there we fired upon the Germans, shielded from return fire.

We realised that we could not make any offensive or even defensive operations without artillery, of which we had none. The General, in his wisdom, knew this and told us that he had requested artillery from London.

In the meantime, we were put to work building forts near the city, which we completed by June.



The five artillery batteries arrived on the 21st of August, and the BEF was divided into the 1st and 2nd Armies. General McDowell commanded the 1st Army, while General Noel Cecil commanded the 2nd Army.

[Robin de Bodemloze]

A TGW AAR! Good work so far - I hope you persevere with it.

[♔The Lizard King♔]

Yes, please continue this.

[N00B5600]

In September, the 1st Army which included me, marched north to capture Kassel. We were in high spirits, mainly thanks to rumours, along with a photograph of a decisive victory won by General Cecil and his 2nd Army as they approached Baden-Württemberg.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Historian's Note: The only German survivors of this battle can be seen within the red circle. Out of Matthias Teichmann's army of 10,472 only 1,311 survived against Cecil's army of 7,160.

The Germans were apparently completely destroyed, allowing General Cecil to march into Stuttgart unopposed, save for some conscripted citizens (or so I've heard).

However, Stuttgart was assaulted by fresh German troops the next month, though they were beaten back, with the use of conscript German citizens as well as the artillery. It must've been horrifying to face artillery fire in the cramped alleyways of suburban Stuttgart.

Historian's Note: Indeed it was, as Cecil's 5,646 survivors from his previous victory now faced Xaver Kurtig's force of 7,320. The battle was a disaster for the German Empire, with only 1,329 living to tell the tale, whereas the British only lost 715 men.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Perhaps a little envious of the success of the 2nd Army, we marched faster than we normally would have, destroying an Arms factory in Frankfurt along the way. On the 17th of September, I saw myself firsthand the awesome power of the artillery.

The approach to Kassel was guarded by an old stone fort. We were told to dig in and wait for further orders. We waited for three hours, anxious for the battle ahead. Then started the spectacular five hour barrage. Men looked over the trenches and watched the fort engulfed in flames and smoke.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

When the barrage ended, there was an eerie silence. We were ordered forwards. We marched slowly, cautiously, fascinated by the completely ravaged fort. It became evident that the occupants were either dead or hiding. We entered through the gaps in the fort's walls, and were greeted by a sea of corpses. A company of Heer survivors tried in vain to defeat us, but it was a massacre.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The day was won with minimal casualties, but we could not help but feel a sense of sorrow at the enemy who had all died clustered around the flag of their Fatherland.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Thus Kassel fell on the 19th of Spetember.