Lest we forget

Watching my eldest grandson in the Beavers Parade and taking younger grandson to put a cross at the war memorial in my memory of fallen friends of his great grandfather.

They bravely fought to give us a future. What brave, men, women, boys and girls.

I feel tearful - it's a very special day . I'm going down to our Pages of the Sea later . No words , just a physical ache .

At the going down of the sun......

We will be putting on our Macs and going into our garrison town to remember. A little bit of rain won't put us off. As Justin Trudeau said yesterday, a hundred years ago the rain was bullets.

Planning on walking to our local memorial this morning. As Pittcity says, a spot of rain wont deter as those on the battlefields had so much more to endure.

Very Special Day

I agree travelasfar last night I said to my husband, if its raining tomorrow we won't go the ceremony. He replied, yes the men in the trenches looked up and said, we won't get out today as its raining. I felt so sad then, we have no conception of what they endured.
Lest we forget

I was honoured many years ago to have been in Ypres with my DM and DD at the commemoration of the war. We landed there by chance having been on a coach trip and found that our planned trip to the shops in Lille were closed. Some on the bus were disappointed but my DD at the time 15 suggested that the driver go to Ypres, we did. It was a wonderful experience. It was so peaceful, calm and the service held there was just so lovely. I can remember how I felt, it was a very heartfelt moment and I will remember it always.

My grandfather, 2 great uncles and a cousin died in World War 1. My mother was 5 when her father marched away, she never saw him again. Her sister was 7.

The loss of their father affected them both profoundly for the rest of their lives, even though their memories of him faded with time. It shaped their characters and that affected their children.

I have visited all their graves and I will commemorate their deaths in the village church and the village war memorial today.

I was in Ypres a few years ago and found it a very moving experience. We stayed in a hotel that had a crater, trenches and artifacts in the gardens and it was a very big reminder of what those poor soldiers went through

Yes, harrigran, I agree about how moving the experience in Ypres is. We were there in September and stayed for the
8 pm service. A very moving and sobering experience. To see all those names of the lost etched on the Menin gate, thousands of them, truly heartbreaking. We must never forget.

‘For your tomorrow we gave our today ‘

I visited Dunkerque and Normandy many years ago to get a mental image of the landings.
Thoughts to those young men in their thousands who didn't return.
We've got to remember these brave people who died so that we could live.

We went to Ypre when we were stationed in Belgium. It was, as Maple says, both moving and sobering. It was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. And we are still carving names on memorials. Over fifteen thousand on the Armed Forces Memorial in Staffordshire for those killed in conflicts since 1945. With room for as many more. God forbid.

All from the same town of Darlington, my 2 great aunts Florrie and Louie. Louie lost her soldier husband of a few weeks andFlorrie her fiancé who was a war reporter on the Northern Echo. The sisters lived together for the rest of their long lives.
Also my 2 grandfathers who both survived. Sidney Coapes ( brother of Florrie & Louie) my mum's dad who came home a very changed man. Albert Taylor, my paternal grandpa, who ended up in Palestine and stayed there, marrying a local woman, my grandma returning onlyin 1947.

My AS is on duty in the Channel Islands today, he has been part of their remembrance service for several years now. He and and the his fellow soldiers feel very proud to be part of the service.

AD, partner and GS have just gone to our parade and remembrance service our local church.

These poor men did not give their lives, their lives were taken from them. They died like sheep going to be slaughtered.
There was a man speaking on Moral Maze last night who said it should now all be forgotten as keeping it alive keeps the idea of war alive and actually there are enough wars as it is.
If you grew up wihout a father - or heaven forbid a great uncle then its time to lay them to rest .

Life must go on.

I heard Simon Jenkins on The Moral Maze last night and profoundly disagreed with him at almost every level.

My grandfather fought in WW1 and my father in WW2.
I shall remember them, and millions of others, today.
I've been re- reading some of the war poetry which is so moving.
I don't agree that we should forget; quite the opposite.
It's vital that we remember their sacrifice, and hopefully learn something from it.

Margaret I understand the argument about promoting war. But for many individuals , me included, today is a time to remember the dreadful impact of war on ordinary people. And the terrible wars still impacting on people who just want to live peacefully.

An eminent news editor from Reuters said on Andrew Marr this morning that it’s also important to remember why and what caused the wars in the first place. He said it’s not enough just to honour the dead. Fair point.

My great grandfather fought in the Great War . He died very young in a military hospital as a direct result of injuries sustained . Following the death of his father my grandads mother remarried very quickly and the new husband wasn’t prepared to bring up another mans son so my grandfather was given away to strangers aged 6 .