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French Marshal Petain, the ‘Hero of Verdun’ in World War One, but subsequently disgraced in the Second World War, said that all that matters in life is “food and sex”. Evidencing that this perspective was not limited to the French, what was the refrain of a popular song among British World War One soldiers?

Answer: It had the bawdy chorus of longing to get back home “and fornicate my bleeding life away”. It was widely alleged that a compound was put in the same soldiers’ tea, to lower their sex drive.

Source: World War One by Sir Martin Gilbert

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