General Chat

What do you find strange?

In the county I live in there are two separate memorial services.One on November 11 and also on the Sunday nearest to the important date with 2 minutes silence at each.

As a daughter, a dil and a wife of long serving army men I have taken offence at your remarks that we don't 'celebrate' November 11th.
We, and our country, will always remember the fallen every day... not just once a year.

Very well said Mau :-)

Well said Mau. I too find RMS comments offensive - and ignorant.

Well said Mau..the words from RMS has offended quite a few people including friends of mine that aew reading this thread that are not members of GR.

'celebrate' ? no 'commemorate' ..yes!

wait a minute



Do not dare to say that RMS was offensive to you.


She meant that you do not honour ON Nov 11th, not that you do not honour Nov 11th.


As an ex-Brit who was a child through the war, and can remember the bombings etc ........... including a bomb that fell and killed 27 people less than 300 yards from my home ....................... I do still find it unusual that you have the major celebration or commemoration days before or after Nov 11th.


I was in England on Nov 11th until the late 1960s......... and saw the way that people ignored the 2 minute silence! Life went on as usual on the streets, and those who did stop and observe the 2 minutes were looked at with some amazement


I was a teacher during the last 2½ years that I was in England .............. and I do not remember any observance in school, no observance of the 2 minute silence, or anything.


I much prefer the Canadian way of commemorating on the day ............. as it was intended.



Now throw the whole lot at me .............................

Sylvia you are correct, the two minutes silence on 11th itself was not widely observed until fairly recently. I would write more but keyboard is dead and hate using touch screen :-S

wait a minute....

nope :-\

With respect,( and I hope you know I do Sylvia!) it might have been better for RMS to respond herself to the replies given in a better manner than "if you say so" .

I and others have posted the reason why Remembrance Sunday become just that during WW2 ( for good reasons I think) and continued that way after
( whether one thinks the reasons for that are good or not is a moot point).

I was at school in the 60s so while I can't speak for the people in work and the street, we did always observe a minute silence during assembly on the day, if it was a weekday. And we did so if at home.

So whilst I agree that honouring the fallen of WW1 'on the day' is important, I don't see that choosing a Sunday to honour the dead of that and all conflicts since, in any way justifies RMS's "Whats the point of it?" comment...at best it was ( imho) thoughtless in the wording.

Many days, as well as the 11th, are important in the 'Remembrance calendar' ( which is a trite phrase but all I can come up with), eg this for Australia

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/01/albanys-anzac-centenary-convoy-activities-attract-thousands

or the permanent act of respect and commemoration at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, "guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels."

and from the Veterans Affairs Canada site the following

"Ways To Remember

Attending Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 11th is a well known way to honour the men and women who served Canada in times of war, military conflict and peace. There are many other ways, throughout the year, to remember the sacrifices and achievements of the one and a half million brave Canadians who served, and continue to serve, our country at home and abroad, and the more than 118,000 men and women who died so that we may live in peace and freedom today. Taking an active role to remember these people is one way to say "thank you."

There are indeed as the above says "many other ways", and many other days (many of them intensely personal) to remember the fallen. Doing so on the 2nd Sunday of November is just one of them and is no less thoughtful or heartfelt because it is not 'the ' day WW1 ended. .

I haven't put this well, but I hope it offends no one, it honestly isn't meant to.

I did know 'celebrate' was the wrong word at the time but I couldn't think of the right one and I didn't think of the right one until I read it.

Look, I didn't mean to offend anyone, I was just surprise that you didn't observe it ON Nov 11th, You can do want ever you want of course.

I'm sorry

It IS observed on the 11th, as has already been said, but services are held on the Sunday, as is the march past the Cenotaph which is an integral part of the Remembrance ceremonies.

I am glad you choose to commemorate the 11th, which is after all the date of the end of WW1, but it is no more disrespectful or pointless to commemorate the fallen on the Sunday before that. as we do here, than it is to commemorate the fallen of WW2 or following wars on a date that does not have the same relevance to that war.

It's the 'Remembrance' that is important. :-)

I shall be going to Ypres on 11th. Bob

prepare yourself Bob - I've been to Ypres and the Menin Gate - very emotional indeed

"I'm always amazed that you don't have the Cenotaph services and full observance on the date, but on the nearest Sunday"

Can you imagine the effect of this in central London once a year? Westminster is rather more pushed for space than Calgary.

The 2min pause on the weekday is a good idea, moving the main remembrance to Sunday gives it space and allows people to focus and think without the hubbub of the daily grind. Given all the blood shed since 1946 it is not only 1914 that we need to remember.

<3 the human race, alive preferably

True, about we observe the date of the end of each war
Nov 11
Sept 2
July 27
April 30
Dec 15
but then we have the Afghanistan war and that isn't over yet, and then we have peace keepers, ummm maybe not a good plan thinking about it, not practical.

But I think it is a good idea just needs to be thought out more.

?

Remembrance Sunday is for all those who laid down their lives since 1914. Since "peacetime" started in 1947 there have been only two years in which no member of HM armed forces was not killed on active service.

My hole is deep enough so I'll just be quiet now

SORRY for saying anything. :-(

Perhaps the laying of the Poppies at the Cenotaph on a day that may not be the 11th has been the confusing factor,,,,,

but the 11 of the 11 is observed in UK by the 2 min silence and many services are held in churches and there are still commemorations about.

RMS re the word 'celebrate' your explanation received with thanks.

Kay

I think you are correct in what you just said .....................




plus my memories from the late 40s through to 1967 when there was basically nothing on the 11th .........

........ it passed as a normal day.