We are nearly further away from WWI than WWI was from the Battle of Waterloo
Now that is one way to open the eyes of us all isnt that just an incredible statisic
I said to joe and the wife the same thing how sad that we mourn the dead of the war to end all wars and have another world war and subsequent millitary campaigns still going
Saw the old chap next door the other day and the conversation turned to aches and pains, as it does when old people get together! He mentioned that he's suffered from rheumatism ever since he was 'in the bag'. Turns out he was an air gunner during the war, with tours over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. He had to parachute out of a blazing plane over Germany in1943, was captued within a couple of hours and became a PoW. He was nineteen when he enlisted and is now 92 and despite having mobility problems has all his marbles. He was reluctant to say too much about it all but has invited me round 'for a dram' one evening to have a chat and look at photos etc. Very modest about things and sees it as just ' doing his bit'. Humbling!
Saw the old chap next door the other day and the conversation turned to aches and pains, as it does when old people get together! He mentioned that he's suffered from rheumatism ever since he was 'in the bag'. Turns out he was an air gunner during the war, with tours over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. He had to parachute out of a blazing plane over Germany in1943, was captued within a couple of hours and became a PoW. He was nineteen when he enlisted and is now 92 and despite having mobility problems has all his marbles. He was reluctant to say too much about it all but has invited me round 'for a dram' one evening to have a chat and look at photos etc. Very modest about things and sees it as just ' doing his bit'.
Now that man is a true hero to this country ..
Not the likes of david beckham, wayne rooney, or robbie williams... But this generation can't see that and these heroes will be forgetten by many in years to come, which is so upsetting .
We are nearly further away from WWI than WWI was from the Battle of Waterloo
That is amazing. In a similar vein, though perhaps not as surprising (at least to me), we are further away from WWII than WWII was from The First Boer War.
Going back to my earlier post, Jim (my neighbour) also mentioned that someone from the RAF had contacted him recently to see if he would be willing to be interviewed for a magazine article they were doing on Bomber Command and he agreed. A couple of weeks ago a "slip of a girl" turned up to talk to him but, he told me, it soon became pretty clear she had absolutely no comprehension of what the crews went through or even of the war in general: "I might as well have been talking about the Wars of the Roses, she knew nothing about it at all". He laughed about it but I sensed he was dismayed that the sacrifices made by so many is not taught or remembered in today's world.
I grew up in a world where everybody was heavily touched by the war, we played on 'bomb sites', the films were all about the war, our dads and uncles, mums and aunts, big brothers sisters and cousins had served in some way, and national service existed. The war, and knowledge about the war was taken for granted. However as the years passed younger generations have less and less real understanding. The war for me was, and is, a living breathing thing that influenced everything, indeed it seems all of my secondary school teachers were ex RAF; but for the young the war is 'Where Eagles Dare' or 'Dads Army' if you're lucky, but it is anachronistic to them. I mean if Prince Harry thinks dressing up in Nazi regalia is a laugh, and harmless, can my generation be suprised that what impacted our lives so heavily is brushed aside by the young as so much old persons flim flam? henry calls it right, if we don't learn from History we repeat it, and it explains why a lot of my generation so much hate the National Front and the BNP, are suspicious of UKIP, and are glad of the European Union because it will help the continent stay peaceful (well at least that's the hope). It is interesting to see the new generations grow up...I mean virtually all technology seems to me new fangled and bemusing, but the young are taking to it as second nature...can any youngsters reading this imagine a world without computers, phones only existed in telephone boxes which you queued to use, if you had a telly it was one channel, but the wireless was the main scource of information (and libraries!), and hot running water was such an expensive luxury families could only afford it once a week. I am glad the young have it much easier than we did, I just wish they didn't take it all so much for granted, and were not seeing so much as their 'rights'. On the way to Brizzle yesterday Charing Cross station was packed with veterans getting ready for the Rememberance day service, I looked at them with their grey hair, but their straight backs, and their rows of medals, and I thought 'it is you lot that have made Britain 'great'.
Comments
A generation gone
RIP all those souls
So much for the war to end all wars.
Lest we Forget
Now that is one way to open the eyes of us all isnt that just an incredible statisic
I said to joe and the wife the same thing how sad that we mourn the dead of the war to end all wars and have another world war and subsequent millitary campaigns still going
As a race we learn nothing from the past it seems
Not the likes of david beckham, wayne rooney, or robbie williams... But this generation can't see that and these heroes will be forgetten by many in years to come, which is so upsetting .
I am 37 and I have the upmost respect for these guys
My boy is 11 and loves the stories of his great grand father in ww2 and his great great grandfather in ww1
It's down to us as a generation to educate those with no direct family links to the world wars and the Hero's it created
Outbreak of WWI 1914 - Today 2012 - 98 years
First Boer war was 1880
The war, and knowledge about the war was taken for granted.
However as the years passed younger generations have less and less real understanding. The war for me was, and is, a living breathing thing that influenced everything, indeed it seems all of my secondary school teachers were ex RAF; but for the young the war is 'Where Eagles Dare' or 'Dads Army' if you're lucky, but it is anachronistic to them. I mean if Prince Harry thinks dressing up in Nazi regalia is a laugh, and harmless, can my generation be suprised that what impacted our lives so heavily is brushed aside by the young as so much old persons flim flam?
henry calls it right, if we don't learn from History we repeat it, and it explains why a lot of my generation so much hate the National Front and the BNP, are suspicious of UKIP, and are glad of the European Union because it will help the continent stay peaceful (well at least that's the hope).
It is interesting to see the new generations grow up...I mean virtually all technology seems to me new fangled and bemusing, but the young are taking to it as second nature...can any youngsters reading this imagine a world without computers, phones only existed in telephone boxes which you queued to use, if you had a telly it was one channel, but the wireless was the main scource of information (and libraries!), and hot running water was such an expensive luxury families could only afford it once a week.
I am glad the young have it much easier than we did, I just wish they didn't take it all so much for granted, and were not seeing so much as their 'rights'.
On the way to Brizzle yesterday Charing Cross station was packed with veterans getting ready for the Rememberance day service, I looked at them with their grey hair, but their straight backs, and their rows of medals, and I thought 'it is you lot that have made Britain 'great'.
Thank You.