I was very grateful to the organisers of Battles through History for inviting me to join the eclectic mix of authors in the Norfolk Pavilion last week. Despite Storm Amy, there were plenty of visitors to this tremendous military show at Ardingly, many of whom joined us upstairs for the fascinating book talks.
Although we focused on the past, the news in Ukraine and the Middle East, was still very much to the fore and had me thinking about casualty rates. During my talk about the Victoria Crosses awarded in North Africa, I pointed out that the casualty rates at Gazala and El Alamein were as bad as Normandy and North West Europe. For example, at Gazala, the Allies suffered 50,000 killed, wounded or captured out of a force of 110,000.
Looking at casualty numbers in the two worst current conflicts, there have been about 60,000 fatalities in Ukraine this year and about 24,000 in the Middle East. These levels are equivalent to what was happening in World War II and suggest the character of war has not changed even if the tools may be different. It is good that a ceasefire has been agreed in Gaza, but the real challenge is 2,000 miles north of there.
Rupert Wieloch 