When I was on the Great War battlefields recently......

[Paul S.]

When you bring the unbelievable mass slaughter down to individual stories, it seems to have a more pronounced effect on people .... It's hard to relate to raw numbers, especially figures like the almost unimaginable WW1 casualties.

This has got me exploring my Grandfather's Canadian military service .

Agreed. Talking people and not numbers makes it 'personal'. Knowing the names - even without the intimate involvement of it being a family member - puts faces and lives behind numbers. It also brings awareness in ways that nothing else can. For example, one of my ancestors (Sir Brian Tunstall) died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. While Scottish losses at Flodden are subject to debate, the total losses that day are estimated to be as high as 28% - all to arrow, pike and sword. My ancestor would disappear into that calculation if it weren't for the personal connection of a name, a face, and kinship.

The advent of Rifles, machine guns, artillery, aircraft, bombs and missiles only made war and killing an enemy less up close and personal, quicker, and easier.