Warfare #5: Social Horrors
As we lead into ANZAC Day, I reflect on the horrors of past wars and wonder what history has taught us, when yet again we are witnessing such atrocities in Ukraine.
When once a young man, I slung on my rucksack
To explore the world, now it’s time to look back
I still remember the war zones
And their bone chilling grave stones
From Gallipoli, Normandy, to the Kokoda Track
I travelled throughout Europe, and distant lands
Some of it in a van, that I fondly called Stan
But battle fields that resonate
The horrors that kept me awake
Are those that exposed, the brutality of man
I left each sacred site, feeling shocked, numb and raw
Such depravity in people, we must never ignore
The evil vulgarity
The deep immorality
It’s a failure of humanity, when resorting to war
But what triggers such cruelty, to freely run rife
With a blind disregard for fellow human life
The raging fanaticism
The entrenched antagonism
Their mandate to maximise, murder and strife
At Gallipoli, they were herded like lambs to the slaughter
Ordered to charge headlong, into bullets and mortar
Over-the-top, side-by-side
Sent to senseless suicide
Their blood soaked in the trenches, the sand and the water
Imagine the sheer fear, on those Normandy beaches
Running ashore under fire, after rousing speeches
Sons bold and brave
Sent to their grave
I read their names on a shrine, but wonder what it teaches
Kokoda’s a walking sanctuary, to so many dead
And when enemy supply lines, were stretched to a shred
The limbs of our young diggers
Became Japanese dinners
Cannibalism was the only way they stayed fed
In Vietnam, they inflicted horrendous harm
Tiny villages were bombed, with toxic napalm
So highly destructive
Morally corruptive
Unleashed on women, children, and babies in arms
Putin’s pounding cities with countless casualties
His new General is renowned for prior brutalities
As the snow starts to thaw
They brace for a long war
And an assault on eastern Donbas localities
Such horrors now exposed on the streets of Bucha
Trying to destroy Ukraine spirit and culture
But how many more times
Must we witness such war crimes
Like the barbaric blockade, by the Mariupol butcher
So what goes on inside a war leader’s head
To unconscionably slaughter civilians dead
Are they high on endorphins
Dooming kids to be orphans
Is it animal instinct, or the way they’ve been bred?
Is human life less valued, if lost in a war
Why’s indiscriminate killing, allowed under law
Bombarded with ballistics
But buried in statistics
Body bags and flags, belie the blood and the gore
Yes, war is what humanity does at its worse
When the bubble of decent society bursts
A resort to hostility
Is total futility
It’s always innocents, who bear the brunt of the curse
There’s often a maniac behind every war
Or evil dictators, like we’ve all seen before
Operational creep
Too stubborn to retreat
Deranged retaliation, or vendettas to score
So, after every new genocide, we respond with aghast
Righteously exclaiming that it must be the last
Until our memory blurs
Then another occurs
And we remember all the old war zones … and those horrors of the past!
Lest we forget.
Kevin Holmes • 22nd April 2022
