St Mary's Whitegate

Remembrance

The 4^th August 2014 marks the 100^th Anniversary of the First World War, which proved to be one of the costliest in history.  The fighting continued until 11^th September 1918, which is known as Armistice Day.  To mark the Centenary and to honour those who served during the campaign, a number of commemorative events will take place throughout the year and these will include a national cultural programme to help the general public to get involved in the commemoration, and school battlefield tours to assist young people in connecting with the centenary.  Of course, the Royal British Legion and Imperial War Museum will be driving forces behind these events, but other services associations, local authorities, religious and social institutions will be organising events in their respective areas.  Whilst there are now no living veterans from the First World War, it is important that we commemorate the war because of the sheer scale of sacrifice which saw nearly 1 million Britons lose their lives, not forgetting the casualties sustained by other participating countries, including India and the West Indies, and Australia and Canada, who fought beside us as a nation.  Now is not the time to ask ourselves if it was all worth it, or whether it truly was ‘the war to end all wars’, the importance is that both young and old reflect upon and understand the living hell our soldiers had to endure in the trenches of Belgium and France, and the horrors the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy had to face on the high seas. We must never forget the Battle of Verdun, which was the longest and costliest in history, and the Somme Offensive, during which a total of 1 million men were killed or wounded. During our period of reflection, we should think of the fear and pain our servicemen suffered, the heroic deeds that many of them carried out, and the suffering of their families and loved ones back home, particularly when they received ‘that telegram’.  During the First World War, previously beautiful countryside was blasted, bombed and fought over, again and again. The landscape swiftly turned to fields of mud, bleak and barren scenes where little or nothing could grow. Bright red Flanders poppies, however, were delicate but resilient flowers and grew in their thousands, flourishing even in the middle of chaos and destruction. The famous poem called “In Flanders Fields” was inspired by this sight. The poppy is thus seen, not as a symbol of war, but one of remembrance and hope.