They Shall Not Grow Old

[dmccarty]

Stuff about the Somme and such makes me angry that the population at large are such suckers. Send the Politicians kids first to be used as canon fodder and then we'll see where we go from there.

During WWI, the upper class did go off to fight and died at a higher rate than the lower classes. Lower ranking officers, platoon and company leaders, usually suffer much higher casualty rates and these men are usually college educated, especially at the start of a war. This was certainly true during the early years of WWI and to be college educated meant one was from the upper class in the UK.

Viewpoint: 1 big myths about World War One debunked - BBC News

...
Although the great majority of casualties in WW1 were from the working class, the social and political elite were hit disproportionately hard by WW1. Their sons provided the junior officers whose job it was to lead the way over the top and expose themselves to the greatest danger as an example to their men.

Some 12% of the British army's ordinary soldiers were killed during the war, compared with 17% of its officers. Eton alone lost more than 1,000 former pupils - 20% of those who served. UK wartime Prime Minister Herbert Asquith lost a son, while future Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law lost two. Anthony Eden lost two brothers, another brother of his was terribly wounded, and an uncle was captured.

One of the horror multipliers was the Pal Battalions, which were units formed of men from the same locality. The idea was that a man would join up with his friends and serve with those friends. This helped recruitment greatly but when these units suffered heavy losses at the Somme and other battles, the impact on a town, city or region was huge. A large number of men getting wounded and killed in one battle was an enormous blow to an area.

Later,
Dan

 

[Sigarms]

I was told that this movie will have it's full release in a month or some by someone last night, but I'm not finding a reference to that. Can anyone confirm?

I hadn't seen that when I looked, but it only makes sense that there would be a "full release" coming out sometime next year. I mean why only push it for two dates at the end of the year and never to release it again when there is a good chance you can make more money?

That said, did talk to a buddy of mine about the film today to let him know about it, and it's like he said, when it comes to Christian movies or historical movies, it's not like the "powers that be" really go out of their way to advertise and push the movie.

$15 a person is a good chunck of change IMO for a 2 hour movie, but for a learning experience to watch what should be a great movie on the big screen, well worth it IMO.

 

[RSKY]

The movie is 93 minutes. But, after the credits are finished the producer comes back on and tells how they made the movie. STAY FOR THAT PART!!!! It lasts for about thirty minutes more. He explains about the voices you hear thru the movie. He also shows the artillery in his private collection that they used to produce some of the soundtrack and gives credit to the New Zealand military for letting them record the firing of artillery pieces and how they had microphones set up to hear the whistle of the shells passing overhead and their impact.

Makes the movie better.

RSKY

 

[bunyip]

One of the horror multipliers was the Pal Battalions, which were units formed of men from the same locality. The idea was that a man would join up with his friends and serve with those friends. This helped recruitment greatly but when these units suffered heavy losses at the Somme and other battles, the impact on a town, city or region was huge. A large number of men getting wounded and killed in one battle was an enormous blow to an area.

Later,
Dan

Much the same with the Royal Navy not putting more than one family member on a ship, it did happen during WWI and families were lost.

 

[Jstpssng]

Much the same with the Royal Navy not putting more than one family member on a ship, it did happen during WWI and families were lost.

It happened over here, also. There were 5 brothers who went to sea together, and they all died when the ship went down. The Sullivan Brothers, United States Navy

 

[bunyip]

One has to question the logic of the leaders who could not foresee this potential event unfolding.

 

[dmccarty]

One has to question the logic of the leaders who could not foresee this potential event unfolding.

It was all about getting recruits. If one is at the pub, a friend/mate says we should join up, another friend says yeah lets go, and they know they can serve together it makes it easier to sign up but also harder to back out. And when you are loosing a war and you need soldiers yesterday...

The US Navy had a regulation that family members would NOT serve on the same ship but was not strictly enforced and when the Sullivan brothers enlisted serving on the same ship was their request. What amazes me about the Sullivan's is that their request was not only honored but that they Navy could make it so that they served together. Surprised that the paper worked stated they would serve on the same ship and that the paperwork followed them from recruit training, schooling, and then ship assignment. You would think somewhere along the way that would have been derailed.

Later,
Dan

 

[Aquamoose]

I definitely want to see it but would have to wait until it comes out on dvd and hope the captions will be in place for me to follow the commentary & dialogue.

 

[dmccarty]

I definitely want to see it but would have to wait until it comes out on dvd and hope the captions will be in place for me to follow the commentary & dialogue.

Me too. I would rather pay for the DVD/BD and have the movie than pay as much, if not more, to see the movie in the theater.

Later,
Dan

 

[oosik]

Yes - there are plenty of younger folks that can enjoy it at the theatre. Fortunately, I can turn my sound up loud enough to understand what they are all mumbling.