For The Fallen With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free. Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres, There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears. They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England's foam. But where our desires are and our hopes profound, Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight, To the innermost heart of their own land they are known As the stars are known to the Night; As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain; As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness, To the end, to the end, they remain.
Earwigged on a conversation between three old boys in a station cafe today. Very moving hearing them talk about the war and absent friends from all those years ago. They thought it was the war to end all wars. Maybe it's the way we're made. Sad Peace S
Shame some of todays youth don't realise what has been given for them to have their freedom, lest we forget.
Can i recommend a good read ?. i will anyway - The somne mud by E F Lynch , wake up and smell the coffee young uns !. great poem woody . ps i am anti war in any way shape or form , get the politicians to don boxing goves or pistols and thrash it out amongst theirselves , i don't know anyone who lives abroad who i would want to kill , do you ?.
We stopped at the workshop. I felt quite emotional this year. I think it's because we hear about all the crud they have to put up with and the lack of support from the MOD just drives me MAD!!
Always get a wee bit emo on Armistice Day. Remembering friends and family. Always a little more poigniant as its my Dads birthday on the 10th who died only a few years ago. Been quite afew of my lot fallen in various wars or as a result of them. As I grew up Armistice was quite an important event. Would always watch the festival on the saturday with my Gran who would sing along to all the old songs and then church on sunday or straight to the memorial! As a youngster I would be involved in parades in Boys Brigade, Army Cadets and laterly in the forces myself. Broke the silence today to politely ask a young foreign student passing by who was talking rather loudly to shush! Which he did and apologised - looking at his watch - at least he knew why. The weather has given it all a bit of a sombre feel as well. As for not agreeing with war - its only maintaining a strong defence whether directly or indirectly that means we have the society we live in at all (with all its faults). Yes it would be lovely if everything could be sorted out amicably but unfortunately thats not the way the world works and if its me and mine against you and yours then when the talking stops there arent any rules unfortunately and that goes for it all. People talk about the futility of war and how it never solves anything. A bit too simplistic I'm afraid. I have the utmost respect for principled people who will not take a life and we do need people to protest about the worngs and excesses of wars. Its easy to stand safe behind the "Caliban" who fight our battles for us and criticise. Best to support them, laud them, fix them when they need fixing and care for their families. Lest we forget!!!
Interesting how pretty much everyone is aware of it, Mini Moons came back from school having observed it in school, she's ten. Shame some 'didn't know what the cenotaph was, as he grew up in the countryside without television' Wonder why we can't prosecute his defence lawyers for cooking that one up - personally, if were my boy I wouldn't give him a defence - there isn't one.
I,ve never seen that photo before and i am appalled , how on earth did he get away with that? My deepest respect to all those who served and are serving, military and civilian. nick
Without wishing to make light of a subject very close to my heart (Pads Brat for 18 years), I honestly had to look at that photo 4 times before I realised it wasn't actually a nun.
The sad thing is Someone leaving the prison system after a long stretch actually recieves more support and rehibilitation than someone leaving the forces due to ill health Sorry state of affairs all round nowadays
I was lucky enough to be on a training course at Sandhurst for the last three days and got to observe the silence in front of the college today with a company of officer cadets. Very moving when they fired the cannon and then the bugler played last post. I was also priviledged to get shown around the remembrance chapel the day before. Amazing place, every single surface inside is covered with the names of every officer who fell in WW1.
My great grandad is buried in arras in france, my father goes over all the time and goes round the First world war battlefields, for years he wanted me to go and see the place, two years ago I went for a week with him, to the somme and surrounding area, its shocking to see so many graveyards, every 100 or 200 yards there is another graveyard and there the ones who died in that small area, 60,000 killed or injured on the first day shocking and very moving place, I saw my greatgrandads grave and wept
My colleague at work has a 16 year old daughter. She has been ill for around 2 years collapsing and suffering from fits. It took over a year of teset to find there was no medical (physical) problem. She eventually saw a psychiatrist who advised she was suffering from PTSD, her friend, was killed by an IED in Afghanistan not that long before this started. He was her hero and she looked up to him. She has been improving recently and the fits have been less and less frequent. It has been really difficult for the family. Her Mum has MS and they were worried this was the start of symptoms... Today directly after observing the two minutes silence she collapsed and fitted. Her dad went and picked her up to take her home and put her to bed. The losses are felt by people in so many ways.
