Ambition, Attrition, and Armistice

“At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, one minute of silence will be observed to mark the signing of the Armistice and to remember all those who fell in the cause of their nations.”

Most of us were raised to the myth that the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944 was an inevitable triumph that swept aside all opposition. Most of the books you read on the subject focus on paratroopers and weather forecasts and the bloody grind to get across the beaches. Yet that was just one day. The part that most people don’t think about is that the bloody grind continued… for months.

The Allied objectives for “D-Day” (a silly name, seeing as how every single military operation has a D-Day and an H-Hour) were ambitious; Caen, for example, was expected to be under by the end of the first day. Well, despite overwhelming firepower, it took almost 2 months to capture Caen.

They had planned on a campaign of movement, thinking of the experiences in the desert. Tankers today still dream about grand sweeping movements. But in close country, where a single defiladed anti-tank gun can wreak havoc on an approaching formation, tanks moving against defended positions without infantry support are easy pray, and yet those soldiers are likewise exposed to murderous fire. The inclination (can’t quite call it instinct) to go to ground when a gun opens up is incredibly strong. It’s even harder to get up again, especially when the officers attempting to lead by example are being mowed down.

Which is why the senior generals were increasingly terrified that the campaign was bogging down; they who had somehow survived the Somme, Ypres, and Passchendaele saw the attrition of the Great War happening again.

One veteran observed that his company had taken over 100% casualties. Another that his had seen 51 officers pass through it between Normandy and the Rhine. Given that in a company there are only an officer commanding, maybe a 2IC, and 3 platoon commanders, that is almost unfathomable. And this was only a shadow of what had happened 1914-1918?

The old blasphemies endure: “God loves the infantry”.

So we observe this day; these people are the ones who bought our freedom from the ambitions of those who took us into the maelstrom. And although the memorials name those who didn’t come back, we must think too on those who did, those who rallied to continue their advance, and carried the day.

And as you remember, perhaps spare a moment for those who serve still, who struggle in cold, dark, or scorching places, far from home.

AfC
11:00 hrs
11 November 2008

Sunday, 11 Nov 2007

Taking much for granted

In one of the better texts documenting the South Atlantic war, I found this letter from an officer of 3 Commando Brigade, Royal Marines, writing home to his wife:

“It shouldn’t be too long, and I promise you I shan’t take needless risks. I think of you all so much and I love you all so dearly. Darling, I know what it must be like, always waiting for news and being so much at the mercy of events, but I know that you have the courage and the character to win through the difficult time and keep the family together. I so long to be back with you and I shall value our life together as never before after this. One takes so much for granted…”

— as quoted by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins in Battle for the Falklands (Norton, 1983) pg 288.

While we remember, pause a moment to think too on all those who came home, of those who waited, and of those who wait still.

AfC
11:00 hrs
11 November 2007

Tuesday, 11 Sep 2007

6 years on

And they shall not grow old.

Mary Lou Hague

Mary Lou Hague, d. 11 Sep 2001, age 26.

Miss you, still.

AfC

Monday, 12 Feb 2007

Valentine’s day isn’t for everyone

One of my former NCOs was killed in Afghanistan not too long ago. Bobby Girouard, the Regimental Sargent Major of 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, was one of the casualties when the armoured vehicles of the CO’s tactical command post were attacked by the enemy.

CWO Bobby Girouard

I remember Bobby Girouard as one of the most unflappable men I have ever met. We were in J Company, 2 RCR, together, I a newly commissioned officer commanding a platoon, he the company quartermaster. He always had a smile in his eyes, even when he was frowning at you (and given that I was a young subaltern, that was quite a bit, of course!). Others always told me that my time in command of a Platoon would be some of the best years of my life, and Warrant Officer Girouard (as he was then) was a big part of the reason why that was certainly true for me. As is the grand tradition in the British regimental system, the NCOs are more than just the backbone of the army — they are the ones who teach and grow their new young officers into seasoned commanders. It is no surprise to me that he was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer. I was privileged to know him.

As Valentine’s day approaches and we are all inundated with thoughts of love, passion, and chocolate, it’s easy to forget that there are many who have lost loved ones and for whom this day must be the purest form of torture. My condolences to Jackie at what must, I’m sure, be an insane time. He will be missed.

AfC

Saturday, 11 Nov 2006

Towards the Armistice

Each year on Remembrance Day, I recall two things.

At Fountain’s Abbey in North Yorkshire, England, there is a stately manor, but no one lives there any more. The two children of the house, a son and a daughter, were both killed in battle during World War II.

Neither had reached their 20th birthday.

There is a beautiful stained glass window memorial in the entrance way which reads:

They gave of their tomorrow so you could live your today.

The second is a poem that seems to say what a veteran needs to say:

If you are able
save for them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can no longer go
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O’Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam

— at the closing of Hamburger Hill

In the service of peace and freedom. Amen.

AfC
11:00 hrs
11 November 2006

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