Sunday 9th November, Remembrance Sunday

As a child the Second World War loomed large: my weekly comics of choice were Victor and Battle, full of heroic Tommies defeating dastardly foes; and Sunday afternoons (in my memory at least) were full of films like Ice Cold in Alex, The Dambusters, and The Cruel Sea. The veterans were then the same age that I am now, and although many were very unwilling to talk about their experiences, others would happily share their stories with an inquisitive child.

Now, that generation and their experience is on the verge of becoming history rather than memory, as it was for the First World War generation before them. Their stories become the inheritance of those of us who never experienced the bombing of our homes, the disruption of an entire society, and the impact of mass casualties on communities and families. In a culture which emphasises individual choice, many today struggle to understand what motivated an entire generation to go through that experience, and some question whether the sacrifice was ultimately worthwhile.

As the torch of memory passes to a new generation the stories of war, and their meanings, shift and change to reflect new concerns and ways of seeing the world, and that’s inevitable and appropriate. But for myself, as the Last Post sounds I will be reflecting on my freedom to think what I choose about such things, and that many in the world do not enjoy that freedom, and I will be saying a silent ‘thank you’ to those who made that freedom possible.

Every blessing,

Roger.