The 1100/11/11 completely passed me by on Friday, working in my shop and it was quite busy. But that evening I made a point on watching All Quiet On The Western Front. Couldn't get all they way through, but did finish it before attending a remembrance service at the local memorial on Sunday.
I can't see an argument for consolidation of the two tbh - they both have significance.
D-Day, VE day, VJ day are all fading away. Arguably so should armastice. But keep remenberance Sunday for all conflicts.
That's an argument that could possibly convince me.
Not specifically related but another thing.......
When you do your remembering (solo or at a gathering/service), how far do you go back? I don't think I can be the only person who subconsciously only goes as far back as WWI. And I've been thinking back to a fixed point in time (and everything since) for the last 40 odd years since the concept was introduced to me as a child. But never really consider before then. For context, the Napoleonic wars were more recent history for the first Remembrance Sundays than WWI is now.
They were brought in after WW1, so that's as far back as I think about.
And most of our wars before then were about exploiting other nations, so I'm not as sympathetic to the poor bastards sent to be slaughtered, which is wrong of me, I'm sure.
It's up to you really, My act of remembrance only goes back to WW1 and a distant relative I've only ever heard stories about and seen in photos, but I've great uncles who died in WW2 and closer relations who've passed more recently
I used to go without fail every year, but for the last couple of years, I've preferred to reflect privately. Like RM suggests; allow others to do as they see fit with judgement.
Remembrance Sunday has been the official national act of remembrance since WW2. It is was originally moved to the Sunday during the war to preserve factory production and then retained following the war. Armistice Day wasn't really observed during my youth - there was no silence at 11 am in any school I attended and my recollection is that the Sun launched a campaign in the early 90s to revitalise the observance of silence on Armistice Day which has clearly been very successful.
Interesting. Don’t recall the Sun campaign in the 90s… but do recall the silences at school… and separate Sunday parade with the cubs, in the 70/80s. Both were part of my childhood. But I am a forces child and grew up in areas where I wouldn’t be the only forces kid in the school(s).
And most of our wars before then were about exploiting other nations, so I’m not as sympathetic to the poor bastards sent to be slaughtered, which is wrong of me, I’m sure.
Either that or the usual cock waving.
Do you have the same lack of sympathy for those sent for the same reasons in modern times?
That's a rhetorical question unless you really feel like answering it, it's only to provoke thought.
Personally, I can't seperate the fallen and the politics because they are so deeply connected, I'd say there have been very few just wars.
But that's just me, as RM said we are free to observe as we see fit.
Personally, I can’t seperate the fallen and the politics because they are so deeply connected, I’d say there have been very few just wars.
Where as I come at it from the opposite direction. Those that serve in the military don’t get to pick which wars they have to fight in, or where they get stationed to try and keep the peace. If anything, I feel even more for those who sign up and end up being sent into hopeless or pointless conflicts to die by politicians and senior staff. We should remember the senseless loss of lives, not just those who die for causes we do believe in.
I like Relapsed Maldorian's post up there.
Monroe thing to consider is how modern media and particularly television has instrumentalised these events in a way in which could not have been conceived in the 40's and 50's and even with print media, it would be interesting to compare how much coverage remembrance events received back then as compared to now.
I know the thread is about the remembrance events themselves but the conversation is definitely shaped by the media. On television remembrance Sunday becomes a month of Sunday's (excuse the pun) and that can have the effect of being overbearing and instructional but it can also have a diluting effect.
Personally, I do my remembrance nn this thread, because as much as it covers some of the complex political issues involved, it encourages actual rmemberance. The things that others have written in here that have provoked more thought in me than the structured messaging that abounds.
Though I am aware that it was those structured events that provoked the OP's question in the first place!
Those that serve in the military don’t get to pick which wars they have to fight in, or where they get stationed to try and keep the peace. If anything, I feel even more for those who sign up and end up being sent into hopeless or pointless conflicts to die by politicians and senior staff.
We should remember the senseless loss of lives, not just those who die for causes we do believe in.
Ah, communication breakdown, that's exactly where I come from. By politics I mean those of the people sending them in, not those at the sharp end.
