I was reading Jack Yan’s attempt to make sense of the Middle East conflict(s) but I think it’s a futile task. When I see or read war coverage all I hear is the wise words of a WW1 Veteran:
“At the end of any war, everyone sits around a table and comes to some agreement.
Why dont' they do that before the war instead?”
Alf Razzell, Royal Fusiliers, WWI
Who's right, who's wrong... that quote sums up the futility of war for me.
I first heard Alf’s voice in “The Ballard of Bill Hubbard” (link to Lyric); the first track on Roger Waters album Amused To Death. The vocal is an extract from a BBC documentary interview which, by chance, I have also seen. It was a moving collection of interviews with the last of the WW1 veterans, all in their late 80’s/90’s, still coping with the emotional and psychological effects decades later. His was just one of many heartbreaking stories.
www.rogerwatersonline.com/amused/
The Ballad of Bill Hubbard, features the genuine voice of Alf Razzell as he describes his failings in saving a colleague Private William Hubbard, from death and possibly never being found in the trenches of the First World War. The album carries the poignant dedication, Dedicated to Private William Hubbard (1888-1917), Eighth Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City Of London Regiment.
