He saluted with his white-gloved hand, weeping at the same time. It was a four-year nightmare of unimaginable brutality, one that killed millions and changed Europe forever. The war killed 13 million civilians and 8.5 million combatants. Proportionally, France was hardest hit, with 1.3 million dead. The sheer devastation wrought on France can partly be measured by the 30,000 or so monuments in cities, towns and villages across the nation.
Some villages list more war dead than their current populations.
But they always knew that Great Britain and France had a lot in common. Later in the day, the queen was to travel to Ypres in Belgium, where she was joining King Albert II in remembering the appalling losses from a four-year war of attrition against the Germans in the trenches there. More than 61,000 Australians were also killed in fighting overseas during World War I, and ceremonies were held today in towns and cities throughout Australia. I'm just really highly honored to have been accepted to lay the second wreath. We welcome your feedback.