"The British broke through the Hindenburg Line on the 29th of September which is really an amazing operation and Haig received a telegram from the British government saying, in effect, if you sustain large numbers of casualties attacking the Hindenburg Line, you're done for, we'll get you this time.

"And Haig said, 'What a lot of no-hopers these guys are,' and went ahead and attacked and broke through in 24 hours. But the British have got the artillery game so well under their belts that they just devastate the Hindenburg Line. And it really is an extraordinary example of a well-planned, well-conducted military operation on the Western Front in World War One. You don't have too many of those."