It has always been a slight irritation to me when sundry Lefties sneer at the upper classes, particularly the aristocracy. Not, of course, that a low-life like me qualifies for the upper classes but that sort of group smear without qualification is so unintelligent. The worst sort of Leftie will often accuse them of dodging the bullet and failing to 'do their bit' in WWI, so I was pleased to read this in Richard Holmes's single-volume bio of Winston Churchill:
Whatever we may say about the old ruling class of Britain, that narrow segment of which Winston himself was so much a part, it went to its death with courage. Thirty-two peerages and 35 baronetcies became extinct in 1914 -20, not all as a result of the war, although some 300 peers or their eldest sons (of 1500 who served) were killed or died as a result of war service. The 1914-15 battlefields of Flanders have some cause to be regarded as the cemetry of the pre-war aristocracy. The gentry were heavily concentrated in the Territorials [volunteer reservists sometimes known as 'weekend soldiers] and, although they were specifically excluded from service abroad, in 1914 the great majority voted to go overseas and in the process suffered dreadful losses: 47 heirs to peerages were killed in action before the end of the year. Double death duties levied when a father and heir died soon after each other crippled many landed estates, and 25% of land in England and Wales changed hands in 1918-21.
And that is yet another reason why I detest the National [Socialist!] Trust who now own so many of those grand homes and estates - bloody socialist vultures!