i think my generation will be the last to have personally known people who fought in the war to end all wars and, i guess, we'll ensure that remembrance goes on during our (compos) lifetimes - but after that.... those who knew WII veterans? and after that the cenotaph will gradually become like,say, crimean war monuments - virtually ignored?
i've got my grandfather's bandolier, pocket knife, diaries, and a few other odds and ends from his time as a teenager in the trenches. the diaries are heartbreaking. he never talked about it but i did once ask him (when i was about 11 and we were having lunch in a restaurant) whether he'd killed anyone during the war..... and he broke down and started sobbing - i felt awful and embarrased but just didn't understand really.
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If there are no more world wars to commemorate at the Cenotaph then it will have served its purpose to a certain extent.
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My Mum was telling me about my Great Uncle Alfred earlier in the week. I spent quite a while trying to find any relevant military records but was drawing a blank. Had another look just before 11am on Sunday and managed to find him shortly after. Found his sign up papers, his medal records and his discharge papers due to ill health. He got mustard gassed :(
Had a look at the war diaries for his battalion… granted, a lot of it is in scrawl or goes over my head but Christ it looks like a nightmare. The numbers of dead and wounded... and even the acronyms they came up with for their companies showed their spirit... A, B, C and D changed to Bold In All Things, Romans Friends Countrymen Ears, Here We Are Again Kill Bosch, keep smiling… as the war dragged on it moved to Weary And Wanting Rest, Time We Were Out...
Rather poignant that I found him on the centenary
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I posted about my great grandfather from England fighting in 1900 in South Africa and then in WWI. I don't tihnk we forget people just because we don't ourselves experience war. We certainly see a lot more about current wars in Syria today than the locals read in 1901 in Patrick Solan's "Letter from the Front" in the local paper.
We have never had as little fighting on the planet as now so long may it stay that way.
Even something simple like removing lead frmo petrol has apparently led to a lot less violence all round.
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I will always be grateful to my grandfather, who, although already in his early twenties, determinedly kept on not volunteering through 1914, 1915 and 1916; got into it only by being conscripted in late 1917; stayed alive, got out of it in 1919, married my grandmother and as a result I am here. I approve all his choices which seem more likely to save the human race than all those sixteen year olds hurling themselves towards death without understanding what they were doing.
As regards remembering WW1 forever and drawing lessons from it, I would prefer public energy to go more into understanding the wars happening right now like Syria and Yemen; and more recent wars like the Balkans and Rwanda. Yes I sound sententious but the focus keeps on not shifting from Wilfred Owen to stuff done this century by politicians still in power.
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Good that you brought up Syria, Yemen, Balkans and Rwanda, none of which has any relevance to this country whatsoever, other than for handwringing and posturing
I have nothing but contempt for individuals like your grandfather
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The UK is at war in Syria.
The UK is supplying arms to a combatant state in Yemen, a combatant state which appears to be in breach of the rules of war
The UK as a member of NATO participated in the bombing of Bosnia Herzegovina and of Yugoslavia, and is a party to the Dayton Agreement
The UK is a permanent member of the Security Council of the UN and, in it, voted not to treat the genocide in Rwanda as a genocide.
In what way do these wars not have any relevance to the UK?
My grandfather and I have no difficulty at all getting over your contempt for us.
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my ggdad was one of the 20 minuters in the royal flying corps. he died when I was about 12.
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My Grandfather was in WW1. He was shot three times but somehow survived. Just as well, said my Dad yesterday when we were watching the ceremony. Well, quite.
He was also in WW2, but the injuries meant he wasn't front line. He died just a year before I was born sadly so I never met him.
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