#toby helm

[indizombie]

The number of children across all of Britain who are homeless and living in temporary accommodation has reached 124,000. In the same period last year, the figure was 109,000. The number of households that have become homeless after an eviction over the last year is up 12% compared to a year ago at 18,820 while the total number of households in temporary accommodation has risen to 74,630, up 9% on a year earlier. While 21,400 homeless households have been moved away to a different council area – a 15% rise in the last year.

Toby Helm, ' ‘Shocking’ rise in number of homeless children in B&Bs at Christmas', The Guardian

[shannybasar]

Helm became separated from the battalion as he treated the wounded, and was shocked when he came across what was left of it later in the day. "I found the remains of my battalion in a corner of a field and was horrified to find that we mustered seven officers and about 150 men. Roughly speaking 18 officers and 700 of our men were killed wounded or missing on that day." They had been in mainland Europe for just 11 days. Over the next few weeks there are short idyllic interludes as they head north. He enjoys picking the ripe fruit from the sides of the roads and the men steal into local gardens to get more. The officers take occasional refuge in French châteaux. But most days see skirmishes and brushes with death. On 15 September they end up by the river Aisne, horribly exposed to the Germans on the other side. The men are told to lie on their stomachs in a single line next to a row of trees. "We knew we had been seen by the German observers and almost immediately four high explosive 5.9 [inches in diameter] shells burst together, exactly over our heads. They were beautifully timed and only a few yards above us. The scene after that was appalling. A great many men had been killed."

Guardian journalist Toby Helm writes about his grandfather's letters, diaries and photographs from the frontline in World War One.

One line in the article brings home the horror of the war:

Some 16 million people died in the First World War and another 20 million were wounded.