November 11th falling on a Monday meant a quick walk round to the town centre for the two minutes silence led by the British Legion. A short, sharp service, a command or two, a bugler, silence, bar the people still wandering around looking either guilty or questioning what was going on. Most however, stood their ground.
For the British Legion this is their moment. The more you see them you realise that this means a great deal to them, not just remembering individuals, but this is their occasion. When I tried to contact them for the 2014 exhibition I received no reply. On preparing the museums WW2 exhibition the curator tried again, no response. They wish to keep things under their control, hence the occasional glare towards me and limited answers to my questions when I speak to them. I am an outsider, however, it could just be me.
There is no doubt pride in their continuing these services, though they did omit one for D-Day after all. Clearly no member participated in WW2 though one man did serve in the Korean War. Possibly he goes back further than the rest, and he was still there yesterday while age is catching up on him. Like all soldiers he is not one to talk, there is an attitude of bloody-mindedness about soldiers which has less to do with fighting spirt and more to do with mental attitude. It was often noted in many occupations since the war, an attitude that was not responsible, not his business, and try over there type of thing. Just like answering an officer. I've often come across their bad attitudes in time past and it does not breed good working relationships. RAF men were often better to deal with as they had a more open attitude, however, as the middle class dominated the RAF during the war snobbishness did occur. Douglas Bader, a 'war hero' and knew it, treated his batman appallingly, especially when in Colditz. That attitude was seen again after the war.
Today brings an end to Remembrance for the year. Thankfully many more have taken to grumbling re the 'event' attitude that has sprung up since BREXIT came on the scene. Remembrance of the war dead was replaced by many as 'English Nationalism.' Remembrance became a time to look back on 'England's Glorious Past,' that is 'England's, not 'Britain's,' you will note. Instead of a poppy and a silence we had exhibitions everywhere. Now some were very good and carefully done, many were to say the least 'tacky.' A great outburst of national emotion in 2014 for the commemoration of the beginning of the Great War led to a huge number of exhibitions all over the place. Though this has calmed down a certain element appear keen to turn Remembrance into another Halloween. This must not be allowed to happen.
2 comments:
Father would not attend any Remembrance ceremonies involving 'leaders' and the clergy....thought it hypocritical. Mother, on the other hand, would attend local ceremonies if she could not march past the Cenotaph...she thought of it as commemorating friends and comrades. I think both would be appalled by the light shows and suchlike....so tacky.
Fly, These attitudes are reflected in many places. It is commemorating those you knew, and others who served that matters.
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