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 Blackadder 1892, during which he saved the life of Douglas Haig. He also served in the 1898 Sudan War, and makes reference to having spent most of his career away from Britain. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, Blackadder found life in the British Army agreeable, as he had enjoyed a relatively danger-free existence fighting natives who were usually "two feet tall and armed with dried grass." Now an officer in the British Army during World War I, Blackadder is acutely aware of the slaughter that awaits those going into battle. Characteristically reluctant to meet his end in the