FV - let's hope that our "leaders" never force us into the situation where we have to suffer appalling losses like that.
Seeing whole village's worth of names on war memorials is deeply shocking. When whole villages signed up to the same regiment in WW1, joined the same day, fought in the same battles and were all wiped out in one morning's worth of "over the top and at 'em" the effect on those at home must have been truly devastating.
I am always moved to tears in war cemeteries and at Remembrance Day parades, and I am not ashamed to admit it.