Remembrance/Armistice Day (11 November)

[Don_Kiddick]

And for the fearless Men of Oak who more recently paid the ultimate price in Iraq; so that we may drive our cars.

 

Buy your poppy & wear it with pride not just for our fallen heroes of yesterday, but for the men & women of today and tomorrow.

 

Thankyou.

[sheffbag]

Lest we forget.

[Ousetunes]

The sight of Blair stood ashen faced at the Cenotaph is enough to make my stomach churn.

 

Bring the boys home Blair, the joke's worn thin.

 

Lest we forget indeed, to real men and woman, real heroes all of them. World Wars one and two, the Falklands and Iraq and tomorrow's trespass on another foreign soil.

[Guest]

two minute silence at 11 today

 

Last Post

 

Reveille

 

In Flanders Fields

 

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

 

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from falling hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

 

-- John McCrae

 

 

 

"They shall not grow old,

As we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning

We will remember them"

-- Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

 

 

 

sometimes we all need to remember why e are here and those who gave their lives so that we could live in freedom

[JoeP]

Have to agree with Timo.

 

This is NOT a thread for cheap shots and point scoring. It's a place for contemplation and respect.

 

My own Grandfather fought on the Somme. He was very lucky - on the First Day he was shelled and woke up on his way to a German POW camp where he spent the rest of the War.

 

Had he not been captured it's posisble that yours truly might not be here, as my mum was only born on his return to England. He never really spoke about his experiences, which I guess said a lot.

 

Joe

[Guest]

yeh, my Grandad died in the Battle of Britain (we have a history of bad eyesight in the family!)

 

it isn't a day for debating or discussing but a day for remembering.

[docduncan]

Your words should cause us all to stop and think. Win or lose there's no glory in war, all who give their lives are victims of those who lead them, who in turn are puppets of invisible powermongers who would run away from a conker fight let alone the chance to spill their guts for their country. It may be regarded as misguided to give one's life to support the ill-intentioned goals of our 'leaders', but today we ought to reflect on the genuine sacrifice and backbone of those who fell. They were people like the bloke across the road, the fella in the newsagents, the chap who empties our bins. They rose to impossible challenges. Bless one and all and be thankful we're not faced with the horrors they experienced.

[roughy101]

i have been every year for the last thirty yrs with my dad,who wore his medals with pride as we stood on the city hall steps,sadly he died in september but i will be there with his medals as he would want me to be:(

[Plain Talker]

My mother's Father was a veteran of the "Great" (First World) War.

 

After serving in the "great war," he was demobbed October 1919.

 

He lied about his age, in order to join up, like so many did, giving his birthdate as 1899 instead of 1900.

 

He had his knee shot away by a sniper. He was "lucky". He survived the war, unlike so many of his comrades in arms.

 

So, in honour of the sacrifices he, and so many others made, I will be doing my best to get to the cenotaph this morning, and pay my respects.

 

PT

[timo]

Doc Duncan,

I understand what you are saying, and agree with most of it. However, I am not so sure that 'win or lose, there is no glory in war'. I might be tempted to concur regarding the 'Great War', but certainly not regarding the Allied victories over Germany and Japan. Sometimes, one reflects, there really are 'just' wars. The sacrifices of the Allies, which we remember and revere, were worth it. Without them, the world would have been at the tender mercies of the most savage fanatics. The Allied victories over the Third Reich and the Japanese Imperial Army were indeed glorious.