Battle of the Somme

[gw1]

Should General Sir Henry Rawlinson have been tried for War Crimes following the Battle of the Somme?

[Chessman]

Hi g, this question pops up from time to time, not only for General Rawlinson, bit other high ranking officers of WW1, the concensus tends to come down to the times, and the way wars were fought, so in that light, no, but of course, if that was the second war, then yes.

[surfer mike]

In those days that was the way things were, treating your men as no better than dogs..

With a few exceptions most generals were incompetent buffoons still using crimean war tactics but this time with modern weapons, the result catastrophic and needless loss of life..

On both sides generals had a contempt for the average soldier that was disgraceful, when america came in in 1917,many american generals were shocked and appalled at the casualness and recklessness in which british and french commanders sent their troops to their deaths.

So yes imho rawlinson amongst others should have been tried for war crimes but as chessman says because of the times it wasn't even considered a possibility. instead as is it the british upper classes way, we build statues of them instead.

[Pinotage]

I guess you posted this after watching the very moving drama documentary on the Somme.

Based on the programme, the answer is 'of course not'. He did all he could to minimise casualties and it could have been a great victory.

Lack of knowledge about the way the Germans built their trenches was the basic reason for the disaster. Whereas the British made 'temporary' trenches, the Germans dug in deep so they survived the massive bombardment and were able to surface when it ceased to slaughter the British.

Also, the plan depended on minute to minute accuracy. The British advanced 3 minutes late, after the bombardment finished,allowing time for the Germans to set up their guns. Maybe if it wasn't 3 minutes maybe they'd have been in the Greman trenches as the Germans came out their dugouts.

The inflexible plan was maybe chosen because the troops were inexperienced -- compare with the French sector who took telephones and called down artillery as and when needed. They achieved all their objectives.

My grandfather was on the Somme.