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TacTurtle t1_iwos5ca wrote

Reply to comment by PerBnb in TIL: WW1 Armistice Day was Nov 11th, fighting was to cease at 11:00 AM. An American solider charged a German machine gun nest with 16 mins left, and died at 10:59 AM. The last soldier to die in WWI. by wats6831

“some unnecessary action that led to no significant progress” covers a large portion of the WW1 battles

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DuncanDisordely t1_iwpkbnc wrote

I think what makes those to die late in the war (especially last 2 days) particularly awful was there was an understanding by high ranking generals that an armistice was going into effect. Yet so many allowed or even encouraged attacks to go ahead for highly questionable chances of success.

IIRC the head of the American expeditionary force even had to answer questions from congress about his orders in the days running up to 11th November.

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IdlyCurious t1_iwq175p wrote

But we do have to remember that an armistice is a "pause" - they didn't know fighting would not start back up. So there's sense in wanting to be a better strategic position when/if fighting resumes.

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litux t1_iwq7lbh wrote

Or wanting a better position for the peace talks.

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