90 years ago today, whistles blew around the river Somme in France as British troops prepared for an attack on German trenches. By the end of the day they had suffered 57,470 casualties. By the battle's end in November, there were over 600,000 Allied casualties, with perhaps the same number of German casualties. The
Imperial War Museum has launched an online exhibition, where you can find out more about
how the battle was planned, personal stories of those involved, and
myths about the attack. Elsewhere you can find copies of
Army reports on the first day, look at
film of the attack,
diaries and letters home from the troops, go on
tours of the
trenches, listen to
contemporary songs and music inspired by the battle, and see some
more modern responses.
posted by greycap
on Jul 1, 2006 -
38 comments
Blackadder goes forth. Criticising religion is a "fundamental freedom of society", a leading international comedian affirmed last night, as he headed a coalition opposing measures to outlaw the incitement of religious hatred.
Rowan Atkinson, the star of
Blackadder,
gave an impassioned defence of the right to lampoon religion as he joined Tory, Lib Dem, and Labour backbenchers, lawyers, and academics opposed to part of the
Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill - which today gets its second reading. There was, he said, a fundamental difference between race - already covered by legislation - and religion.
[more inside]
posted by psmealey
on Dec 7, 2004 -
41 comments
