On 2018-11-14 3:06 AM, JBurns wrote:
> On Sun, 11 Nov 2018 20:54:39 -0400, wrote:
>> Yes, a man from Nova Scotia was killed by a German sniper just before
>> the bells rang for the Armistice, about two minutes before. There is
>> a new statue for him at Mons (he was the last Commonwealth soldier
>> killed) which is very lovely, looks like a giant tear drop or drip of
>> blood.
>
> For the USAsians. Long article but an interesting read.
It was a bloody shame that soldiers were lost on the last day of the
war. Allied commanders wanted to really rub Germany's nose it it and
send them running so they would have to admit that they had been totally
defeated so they would not harp about how they should have kept things
going. It was a needless loss of life because they truce had been signed
and terms were set and hostilities were to end at 11 am. There was
nothing further to be gained by taking more land....and casualties.
A lot of American soldiers were lucky that some of their commanders had
refused to attack. My father in law was one of the lucky ones whose unit
did not attack that morning. However. someone on his line was killed
around 10 minutes to 11. He used to tell me all sorts of stories about
his experiences in WWI, but most of them were humorous, but that
incident really bothered him.