The War To End All Wars - the Deterius

From August 1914 to November 1918 the guns boomed There were 700 million shells fired for soldiers doomed And not every shell exploded when it was fired then Each year they kill more than 20 innocent women and men And the special unit of the French Army of detmineurs Have lost 630 men in disarming shells, grenades and mortars In the Great War for Germany it meant 35% of men aged 19-22 years Were dead in the fighting that in the end were only family tears For the British Commonwealth 12% of all soldiers who fought Were dead by Armistice Day when the survivors were sought And 31% of the 1913 Oxford graduates didn't survive As officers were targeted in the attacking drive And for France 50% of men 20 to 32 years were gone Which meant that when the Second World War was on They were stuck for manpower when the Germans attacked The Great War left its detritus for generations exacted And today what occurred a hundred years before now Will colour our world and for which we will continue to bow. © Paul Warren Poetry