Lest we Forget

Today is armistices day or Remembrance Sunday and usually as a former serviceman I dust off my medals, go stand in front of the war memorial somewhere and think of my Grandfather who died nearly a hundred years ago in a night time trench raid on the Western Front. He was shot in the stomach in no mans land and died two days later in a field hospital. My Father can only remember meeting him once and sitting on his knee while his father sang to him in a khaki uniform. 

I took Zoe to see his grave in France one year and she sang him a song bless her heart. I was a little younger when my Father took me to visit him and I left him some badges and talked to him for a bit. I remember when Zoe and I went back to see him nearly 50 years later I could not help myself and looked to see if the badges were still there. They were not of course. 

I did not go to the memorial day today to give respects in the usual way. I thought it was getting all a bit much for some reason. What with people saying such tripe as "it should be the law to wear a poppy"  bloody fools. That was the reason we fought the wars, so you could make your own mind up what to do and not be told by a bunch of Fascists. I dont know how this arseholes get air time. 

Anyway,  I just wanted a bit of privacy and will go on the 11th and pay respects at a little village memorial in North Coates. It is a very small village and from the first war has over 27 names on it.. Seven sets of brothers are included in the names.. Can you imagine the impact on a village of 400 that loosing 27 men has and the effect of loosing both your sons has on seven families. 

But that is not the end of the story for North Coates was a airfield in the second world war and was very active on anti shipping strikes in the North Sea. Buried in the church yard are around 30 aircrew from all over the commonwealth who were wounded and died after landing back at the airfield in shot up aircraft. These men are lucky in that they have graves, the casualty figures of Coastal Command aircrew was very high and of course due to the nature of their battles mostly the dead crashed into the sea, where they remain. 

There are also 4 German aircrew buried in North Coates with no distinction as to where they are buried. As always the Commonwealth War Graves Commission treat them with the same respect as our own war dead. After all they died in the service of their country and deserve to be respected. So, North Coates knows a thing or two about the effects of war and yet very few people ever stop to look as they drive through and so it seems the right place for this old warrior to stand and stare quietly and respectfully and also thankfully be ignored. 

In Flanders fields the poppy's grow

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 failing 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.