BENEATH THE POPPY FIELDS – The War To End All Wars

The Great War became colloquially known as ‘the war to end all wars’.

What happened to that idea?

Within twenty years the imperialist elites took the country and the world back to war. These same elites who made the order to put men suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in front of the firing squad; these same elites who decided who would be shot for cowardice and insubordination.

Which brings me to our coal miners, who had three days training at Brompton Barracks, the Royal Engineers Corps Regiment at Chatham in Kent, learning how to be soldiers.

Fortunately our miners were experienced with explosives; unfortunately not so experienced with posh officers, who were brave, but younger, and who were sharp on the insubordination, an unknown to Johnny and his men. Consequently there were incidents that were life threatening.

Staying with the Royal Engineers veterans on detachment to the infantry, they fight their war in tunnels and trenches, but the whims of the officer class threatened their existence to such an extent that one of the officers is murdered.

Coincidentally the German tunnellers have the same problem with their officer who is also murdered.

BENEATH THE POPPY FIELDS by Christopher Chance