11.00 a.m., on the Sunday closest to 11.11.

[Silly Moustache]

A bright cold day in London.

The representatives of the Royal family the British parliament and of all the nations within the Commonwealth of Nations stand respectably by the Cenotaph in London.
the Queen, 93, watches with Camilla and Kate from a balcony above. Philip (98) no longer attends.
The leaders of all our political parties in government each lay a wreath.
Now Crown dependencies.
Now the representatives of the 53 members of the commonwealth, representing over 30% of the world's population.

All is done with military precision.
following are representatives of all British services military, emergency, and others.
The Lord's prayer by all gathered including the thousands that gather in orderly and quiet fashion.

As the National anthem is sung and played the camera passes over the ten thousand of ex-servicemen and women standing (or in wheelchairs) on Horseguards Parade waiting for their march past and laying of wreaths.

The Royal family, and politicians leave in orderly fashion.

Naturally, today, we remember the beginning of the Liberation of Europe 75 years ago, but also those who fought in the 1914 - 1918 war and those conflicts since the 1939-1945 war.

The Trumpet voluntary begins and the marchers assemble - may very old, and many far younger who have served.
One British soldier has died in conflict - since the last remembrance day - fighting smugglers in Malawi.

The pipes signal the start of the march past of 270 contingents.

Most years, I sit and watch it but it always brings me to tears, so this year, if I can, I will honour those who fought for the freedom of the UK, Europe and the commonwealth i as much silence as I can musterin the gym.
That is if I can negotiate the roads much of which are closed for our cities own service and marchpast.

I hope the world continues to remember.

[reeve21]

Thank you for that moving tribute. Just yesterday we visited the Commonwealth section of the Cassino War Cemetery in Italy, the site of fierce fighting during World War II and final resting place of many of your countrymen.

The inscription on the memorial reads “their name liveth for evermore.“

[Ozzy the dog]

I watched the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall last night on BBC One which was quite moving. The Albert Hall is the most fitting place for such an event and the emotion on the audience's faces reflected the importance of the event.

My Dad served in the Navy and I remember him saying he had a flight in a Lancaster Bomber just after WWII and couldn't comprehend how the crews had the courage to climb into those cramped things to fly a mission knowing what they had to do and they might only have a few hours to live.

It is good to remember what men and women have done in the past but it is near impossible to truly imagine just how much they did to earn that remembrance.

[Bob Womack]

Uncle Harry

Sergeant Pilot Henry Archer "Harry" Womack Jr., RCAF
Spitfire Pilot
Feb. 3, 1919-July 1, 1941
Age 22
Johnson City, Tennessee
Buried: St. Deiniol's church, RCAF section, Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales
Commemorated on the 48th page of the Second World War Memorial



Bob

[keith.rogers]

Thank you SM, for your words.

My dad was a fighter pilot flying out of a little place called Bodney, somewhere on the eastern coast of England, I believe. Spent his 23rd birthday flying bomber escort on D-Day, 1944. He managed to survive (for which I must be very grateful!) after his P-51 was hit by flack in November of that year, so finished out his tour in a hospital in England after being stuffed in a basement by local farmers in Belgium until some Allied forces held the area securely. He visited England a couple of times with his fighter group over the years and had fond memories from his time there.

[Tyeetime]

Originally Posted by keith.rogers

Thank you SM, for your words.

My dad was a fighter pilot flying out of a little place called Bodney, somewhere on the eastern coast of England, I believe. Spent his 23rd birthday flying bomber escort on D-Day, 1944. He managed to survive (for which I must be very grateful!) after his P-51 was hit by flack in November of that year, so finished out his tour in a hospital in England after being stuffed in a basement by local farmers in Belgium until some Allied forces held the area securely. He visited England a couple of times with his fighter group over the years and had fond memories from his time there.

23 years old. Amazing.

[keith.rogers]

Originally Posted by Tyeetime

23 years old. Amazing.

If you ever see one of those vintage fighter planes up close and think about those very young men that were strapped into them, it can be pretty sobering.

[Silly Moustache]

http://ww2talk.com/index.php?threads...-pilots.57385/

It says in this that 21/22 was the average age of pilots and 25 was considered mature.

I've been in a British ww2 bomber ( Vickers Wellington T.10) and it was indeed uncomfortably cramped. We have an RAF museum on one of the local fighter airfids here and what strikes me when I look at the uniforms is how small the young men were back then.
That was the British folk of course.

I remember reading a book about D-Day from the point of view of German soldiers, and one thing that came through a number of times that they were shocked at how large the Canadian soldiers were !

[Brucebubs]

Sounded here 12 minutes ago.

[Glennwillow]

You have my thoughts with you, Silly Moustache. I have read a great deal about World War I and how the ravages of that war took away so many of the England's very best men. I have been reading a book based on Alan Brooke's diary and he has commented about how the first World War took away so many of their very best officers so that finding the right leadership in World War II was an ongoing challenge.

Really, after the ravages of World War I, it's a miracle that England survived World War II.

My father's father fought in France with US forces during World War I. Both my parents were World War II veterans, my father a weatherman for the US Army Air Corps, my mother a nurse with the Army Nursing Corps.

These wars were so huge, their tentacles reached into just about all of our lives, some much more tragically than others. My parents were very fortunate, but my mother's experience as a nurse colored both of my parents' attitudes about war for the rest of their lives.

One estimate I remember is that about 20 million people lost their lives in World War I, about 75-80 million people perished in World War II. It's overwhelming to think about.

- Glenn

[Jim Owen]

The bells will wring here tomorrow at 11. We ought to all stop for a moment of silence.

[Silly Moustache]

On such a day, there are lots of late night programmes about WW1 and WW2.

Last night I stayed up to watch, again "They Shall Not Grow Old" a documentary made by Peter Jackson(Lord of the Rings) using old film and photographs and colorising them, plus having experts "lip read" the comments made by the people filmed and spoken by actors.

It doesn't hold back. There are some pretty bloody images of the dead and injured, and first hand stories of survivors.

My maternal grandfather once told me that he was in the army before 1914 and was in the trenches throughout and was finally stationed in Germany. "all the bloody way - that was my punishment for not getting shot!" was his summary.

What came across was that those who went and experienced the slaughter and appalling conditions returned to a Britain which simply did not understand what they suffered.

In fact even considering the enormous losses of manpower - most returned to unemployment and even a common reluctance to employ ex servicemen.

Therefore it was generally decided never to speak of their experiences or of the horrors.
I so wish that as a child, I;'d asked more questions of him, but I remember my mother (his daughter) telling me in a rather dismissive way "oh he went of to war and when he came back didn't seem to want to bother to work again".

An illustration perhaps that his four/five years or terror, cold, mud, rats, dead bodies, lice, disease, gas poisoning, and killing - could simply not be understood.

I recommend that those who would like to understand seek out that film.

https://youtu.be/IrabKK9Bhds?list=PL...akyGUn0Bn3Wsg7

[Murphy Slaw]

I sometimes wonder if we were worth their sacrifice.

[Daniel Grenier]

I am about to leave for the Memorial Service and I am looking at a small box full of German insignia which was taken by my uncle from dead German soldiers during WWII. He was in the Canadian Infantry for the entire war and made it out in one piece (unlike so many of his friends). He never did talk about the war but you knew it was a traumatic experience. These `mementos`he brought back, I have to assume, were taken post battle and possibly from soldiers he may have killed himself, but I don`t know. Morbid, I know, but very poignant - especially on 11 Nov.

My father was also in the entire war as a heavy equipment mechanic with the Engineers. He never did see "action" as my uncle did and he was always thankful for that.

May they both, and all their comrades, rest in peace.

[Fireside_Guitar]

Lest We Forget.

Monday November 11 is Remembrance Day in Canada. In British Columbia it is a statutory holiday. I would like to thank all who served past and present for the many freedoms I enjoy today because of your sacrifices.
The clock has just past 11.11.11 and the cenotaph ceremonies were well attended as they are every year by all ages. The poppies were seen worn on clothing the last couple of weeks every where I went.
I`m glad to see Remembrance Day so well honoured here.