World War I casualties
The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I were about 40 million: estimates range from 15 to 19 million deaths and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
Gloucestershire Regiment in World War I
1st Battalion spent a week in the line near High Wood at the end of August, during which time it endured the most intense shelling it experienced in the whole war. After three days the trenches were practically obliterated, forcing the men into the shell holes in front of them, and by the time the battalion was relieved on 28 August it had lost 46 killed and 141 wounded. On 8 September the battalion joined the 2nd Welch and 9th Black Watch in an attack which carried the German second line in High Wood, but a lack of reinforcements forced them to withdraw. The attack cost 1st Battalion 3 officers (amongst them the commanding officer Lieutenant-Colonel Pagan), of whom 5 were killed, and 206 other ranks, of whom 84 were killed, leaving the battalion with just 4 officers and 96 other ranks fit for duty. The next day 10th Battalion suffered 122 casualties in a failed attack through the northwest corner of the wood.