“…the bodies of strong, young men were being poured ruthlessly into the 500 mile long gutter that was the Western Front.” (BBC, 2015, 14:55)
That came, quite unexpectedly, from the mouth of a young student about half-way through a Sherlock Holmes / Mary Russell story on BBC Radio 7.
BBC, (2015) ‘The Beekeeper’s Apprentice’, episode 1 of 4 of The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, London, BBC, [online]. Available from: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0075z3b (accessed 9 June 2015).
From the Great War Forum, there is a thread of Favourite Gravestone Inscriptions. One is:
I fought & died in the Great War to end all wars have I died in vain?
or (link):
I have fought in the Great War, the War to end all Wars. If there are to be more Wars then I have died in vain.
It is on the headstone of Sergeant Phillip James Ball MM, 44th Australian Imperial Force.
He was born in Birmingham, England and later moved to Western Australia to become, I believe, a farmer.
He enlisted 24/01/1916 and was killed 28/03/1918 aged 21.
His grave is in Villers-Brettonneux Military Cemetery, grave III. E. 1.
“I would absolutely refuse any direct or indirect war service and would try to persuade my friends to do the same, regardless of the reasons for the cause of a war.”
—Albert Einstein — From Die Friedensbewegung, ed., Kurt Lenz and Walter Fabian (1922)
“He who cherishes the values of culture cannot fail to be a pacifist.”
—Albert Einstein — Quoted in Die Friedensbewegung, ed. Kurt Lenz and Walter Fabian (1922) 17.
“I am not only a pacifist, but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace… Is it not better for a man to die for a cause in which he believes, such as peace, than to suffer for a cause in which he does not believe, such as war?”
—Albert Einstein — From an interview 1931. Reprinted in Einstein on Peace, 125
“We must… dedicate our lives to drying up the source of war: ammunition factories.”
—Albert Einstein — Published in Pictoral Review, February 1933. Quoted in R.W. Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times
“The goal of pacifism is possible only though a supranational organization. To stand unconditionally for this cause is… the criterion of true pacifism.”
—Albert Einstein — To A. Morrisett, March 21,1952. AEA 60–595
“The more a country makes military weapons, the more insecure it becomes: if you have weapons, you become a target for attack.”
—Albert Einstein — Quoted in interview with A. Aram, January 3, 1953. AEA 59–109