Yesterday marked Remembrance Day. It used to be Armistice Day. This photo was taken the day before. You can see the poppy on the man's jacket. Here it is a statutory holiday and hundreds gather at the cenotaph to mark the 11th hour of the 11th month. These are pictures of after the wreathes were all laid.
I can remember standing holding my grandfather's hand at the town cenotaph. He was in the First World War. He had lots of medals. I was very proud. When the service was over he took me to shake the hand of a very old man, Mr. Otter. I can remember being told not to forget what my grandfather was saying. He told me to look at the old man's medals because they were from the Riel Rebellion. (1885). As a teenager I met an old Boer War veteran, and now the Second World War veterans are going, including my parents. Sadly we now have more war dead, and the veterans are far younger than me.
1 comment:
The Silver Cross Mothers all used to be very old women who had lost sons in WWII or Korea. Now the Silver Cross Mothers are my age and their children were killed in Afghanistan. How tragic that the ranks of both the mothers and military dead are always replenished.
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