Blackadder Goes Forth the effects on the soldiers who suffered over its course. The idea that the soldiers suffered whilst their commanders remained safely distant from the action was also referenced on many occasions, such as when Melchett says to Baldrick, "Don't you worry my boy, if you should falter, remember that Captain Darling and I are behind you!", to which Blackadder responds, "About 35 miles behind you!". In the episode "Corporal Punishment", Blackadder justifies the shooting for food of a carrier pigeon (which turns out to be Melchett's pet, Speckled Jim) by saying, "With 50,000 men getting killed a week, who's going
Edmund de la Pole (Captain of Calais) Edmund de la Pole (Captain of Calais) Sir Edmund de la Pole (died 1419) was an English knight and Captain of Calais. He was the second son of Sir William de la Pole of Hull and younger brother of Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk. He was Captain of Calais castle and controller of the town from 1384 to 1388. He served as High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire for 1389 and a JP from 1390. He was knight of the shire (MP) for Buckinghamshire in 1376 and 1383 and Cambridgeshire in 1395. By his first wife Elizabeth