Some thoughts on Remembrance

[squirrel]

Some thoughts on Remembrance Day…

 The nights become chilly, sometimes with frost, the leaves fall and we have rain... Another year has passed and Remembrance Day has come around again, but who or what and how do we remember?

 There is no one alive or anyone who served or who remembers at first hand World War One. Those who remember World War Two are becoming fewer as each year passes, as they are with the further wars and conflicts fought since then. So, who do we remember?

Family, of course, some of us those we served with, others research individuals, units and regiments that they have an interest in. The internet gives us access to vast amounts of personal information that previous generations could only have dreamed of at a time when personal stories were passed on by word of mouth and, with the best will in the world, not always accurately and sometimes embellished with repetition and the passing of time.

 Memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, official records, poetry…all will provide information for those with a thirst for knowledge but it should be remembered that these need to be considered in the context of the times in which they were recorded and written, also why they were written, especially if written years after the event. Where applicable, the work of those who wrote of their experiences and their sources should be cross referenced and corroborated. 

 What do we take away from this when it comes to Remembrance and how we remember?We use the poems and writings of others to express how we think that people felt at the time and to form our own feelings and opinions. However, unless we consider where, when, how, why, and the circumstances and conditions in which they were written, do we really understand them? And do we need, as some apparently do, to misquote and change the original words to more modern language and lose the subtlety and nuances of the original because the style of writing and expression of the time is not understood? Poetry particularly suffers more by not being considered on these points.

 The two well-known exhortations “For the Fallen” by Binyon, and Maxwell Evans’ lament, “When You Go Home…” used at Remembrance ceremonies are often misquoted. 

Binyon’s poem was written for a newspaper competition to remember the dead of the early battles of 1914. Maxwell Evans lament, of which only the first two lines are used, is one of a series of twelve laments for the dead of The First World War which he wrote in 1918. He stated that if what he wrote, which is not the form that is used most often today, is used at commemorations in the United Kingdom, it makes no sense. In the original wording it is the dead speaking of the dead from overseas.

 Writings, songs and poetry from the wars are often used in concerts and performances, sometimes out of context and with little consideration for the original experiences, reasons, circumstances and conditions in which the piece was written. Reflective pieces are used as if they were written in anger and vice versa, some even to the extent that the original meaning is lost. The wording of some modern songs and poems, many of them mawkish, are sometimes considered to be more important than accurate content and myths and misinformation are repeated.

 The casualty figures are often quoted, and often too to the exclusion of all else. Remember those who died, of course, but also remember that seven out of eight of those who served overseas in World War One came home. Nearly nine million served in the British, Empire, Dominion, and Commonwealth forces in that war. Do some people really believe that they had no idea of why they were going or what they were going for?

 On Remembrance Day, I will visit a cemetery, CWGC graves, or a town or village memorial, or attend a parade, at home or overseas, and take the time just to stand, or sit, to remember those I have known or knew, those I didn’t know but whom I have researched; family, friends, those who returned and those who didn’t, resting either here at home or overseas…

 The immensity of their sacrifice is plain to see in the number of cemeteries and memorials to the missing all over the world…volunteers and conscripts from the numerous countries of Great Britain, The Empire, The Dominions, The Commonwealth and our Allies… “From the uttermost ends of the Earth” as the New Zealand WW1 epitaph for their missing states…

 I just remember, as I think of those names I read on headstones, on memorials and those I keep in my memory…and I think of the words of the historian, the late Richard Holmes, who summed things up in one eloquent phrase for the dead of The First World War and which, I feel, can be said for all the dead of all wars, past and present and, sadly it seems, the future: 

“…Never forget that generation whose courage and endurance lift my spirits and break my heart.”

 And, this phrase of Ernest Hemingway’s comes to mind:

“Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.

Ask the infantry, and ask the dead.”

 

We will remember…

 Just some thoughts on a chilly, rainy, November day…

 

 

 

Edited 7 November , 2022 by squirrel

[jay dubaya]

Thanks for that Squirel.

Local to me, both Haverfordwest and Milford Haven have large gatherings with their impressive war memorials, but in the last few years I've found myself at small village war memorials around the Pembrokeshire coast. There's no service here, no laying of poppies, just me with the hound, I sit for half hour or so and have a flask of tea whilst I read over the names and pay my respects with the freedom of an Atlantic backdrop. 

[squirrel]

As long as we remember, that's what's important, as is telling people why we remember. Thanks for your reply, appreciated.

[phil andrade]

Would it be pedantic, or insensitive of me, to suggest that we might do well to differentiate between remembrance and commemoration?

How could I, born  nearly thirty five years after the end of the Great War, claim to remember it ?

 

But to commemorate it : yes, I feel I can - and, indeed, should- do that.

 

 Phil 

Edited 7 November , 2022 by phil andrade

[seaJane]

@squirrel, your post makes me think of this, written in 1936 by William Soutar*:

On an ex-serviceman who died during a hunger march 
(A thought for Armistice Day)

When in the silence you remember them,
Who were destroyed by war, remember him
For whom the bugles that resounded Cease!
Pronounced his privilege to starve in peace.

 

* https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6963830

seaJane

 

 

Edited 8 November , 2022 by seaJane

[squirrel]

12 hours ago, phil andrade said:

Would it be pedantic, or insensitive of me, to suggest that we might do well to differentiate between remembrance and commemoration?

How could I, born  nearly thirty five years after the end of the Great War, claim to remember it ?

 

But to commemorate it : yes, I feel I can - and, indeed, should- do that.

 

 Phil 

I had and have the privilege of knowing, and still know, some who served in WW1, WW2 and subsequent conflicts and my family told me of those who did not come home.          I also have some mementos and photographs...Remembrance is not just about remembering people it is also about remembering what they did and what they endured.

Remembrance and Commemoration IMHO are intertwined, at least for me.

 

9 hours ago, seaJane said:

@squirrel, your post makes me think of this, written in 1936 by William Soutar*:

On an ex-serviceman who died during a hunger march 
(A thought for Armistice Day)

When in the silence you remember them,
Who were destroyed by war, remember him
For whom the bugles that resounded Cease!
Pronounced his privilege to starve in peace.

 

* https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D6963830

seaJane

 

 

Thank you, 

[michaeldr]

40 minutes ago, squirrel said:

Remembrance is not just about remembering people it is also about remembering what they did and what they endured.

Agreed
'Remembrance' is the word which I would choose.
'Commemorate' is, to my mind, too close to 'celebrate' 
and there is nothing in war's death, destruction and suffering to celebrate.

[phil andrade]

Commemorate equates to celebrate ?

To my mind, commemoration has sombre undertones, and certainly lends itself to something immense in history which is worthy of public acknowledgment.

For my grandfathers and father, remembrance of the dead of 1914-18  and 1939-45 was personal and first hand, as it was for grandmothers and mum. 

Forgive me for striking the wrong note.

 

 Phil 
 

 

[michaeldr]

Don't worry Phil
This subject is very personal
as indeed can be one's interpretation of language

[phil andrade]

Thanks. It did worry me that I might be seen as raining on the parade.

Let me assure Squirrel that I invest the honouring of Remembrance with emotion and gratitude.

 

There you are : I used the “ R” word ! 
 

Phil

[squirrel]

Not easy to differentiate between Commemoration and Remembrance, as I said, for me, the two are intertwined...

Perhaps Commemoration is the physical act of Remembering, either formally or informally.

Edited 8 November , 2022 by squirrel