Remembrance And Our Changing World

In the last couple of years, The Clog has discussed Remembrance Day in great detail. There was more publicity on the festival of Remembrance than ever as the world reflected on 100 years since the start of The Great War and 70 years since D-Day in WW2. This edition will focus on some of the alternative war memorials in the capital city and reflect on changes in geopolitical events over the last year.

Arguably, the greatest focal point for this year’s commemoration was the elaborate poppy art installation at the moat of the Tower of London devised by Paul Cummins. This featured 888,246 ceramic poppies to commemorate each British and Commonwealth soldier who perished during WW1. It is estimated that close to 5 million visitors have come to see the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red display since opening on the 5^th August. Indeed, at the time the pictures were taken on November 13^th, the crowds were up to 5 people deep right around the moat. The last poppy was put in place on Remembrance Day and the display is now being removed, with each poppy having been put up for sale for £25. Reflecting on the sight of all those poppies caused lyrics from the great hymn of remembrance, Oh God our help in ages past to come to mind:

Time, like an ever rolling stream,

Bears all its sons away;

They fly, forgotten, as a dream

Dies at the opening day.

These sombre lyrics reflect the brevity of life against the broad sweep of history. There have been calls for the poppy display to be made permanent but arguably it was all the more powerful for being around for only a short time considering many of The Fallen were less than 25 years old. The sea of red did an amazing job of conveying the supreme sacrifice that was made by so many in foreign battlefields to buy the peace that we enjoy today.

Paddington Station is the historic London terminus of Brunel’s Great Western Railway and is the 7^th busiest station in the UK. On platform 1, there has been a war memorial in place since 1922 featuring a bronze sculpture of a WW1 soldier in full battle dress who is reading a letter from a loved one. This memorial, designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, honours the memory of 3312 employees of the GWR who perished in the two world wars.

Opposite the iconic Horse Guards parade stands a beautiful memorial dedicated to the Guards Division. This features five bronze statues to represent the Coldstream, Grenadier, Irish, Scots and Welsh Guards regiments. Above the statues is an inscription by Rudyard Kipling, a poignant feature since Kipling lost his son in the Battle of Loos in France. The monument also honours those soldiers of the Household Division in WW2.

Trafalgar Square is the beating heart of Central London and a popular place for special events throughout the year and public art displays on the fourth plinth installation. On the 7^th November, the Royal British Legion unveiled a stunning 7.5 metre high Every Man Remembered brass sculpture in the centre of the square. This features a detailed model of a WW1 soldier based on The Unknown Soldier and is part of the Legion’s centenary commemorations to honour all of the men and women from Britain and the Commonwealth who perished in the conflict. The Legion also launched a website where people can sign up to receive details of an individual soldier in order to keep their memory alive.

One of the poignant moments from Remembrance Sunday 2014 was the participation of soldiers from the German Navy in Edinburgh. This was a welcome sight as it shows how far we have come since those defining conflicts of the 20^th century. Some veterans of the WW2 Arctic convoys also received Russia’s highest Naval honour for their bravery in these treacherous voyages. The latter of these tributes caused a special moment of reflection considering that Russia has made the world a more uncertain place as it has embarked on a territory expansion strategy by annexing Crimea and destabilising areas of eastern Ukraine by sending troops and weapons to assist separatist rebels. There are concerns that this is part of a wider strategy by President Vladimir Putin to restore Russia’s “near abroad” to the fold and take a stand against perceived NATO encirclement.

There have been various economic sanctions levelled against Russia and it has become more diplomatically isolated. In response, Russia has also issued sanctions relating to banning agricultural products from the EU and USA. There are also concerns that Russia could limit natural gas supplies to the EU, which could potentially impact on Germany. Other resource options may be possible for Germany, such as Liquefied Natural Gas or Shale Gas, though Russia has been skilled at exploiting differences in opinion among EU members.

At this time of reflection on some of history’s darkest moments, it is important that the hard won peace we enjoy is not sacrificed on the altar of nationalism and political vanity. This means that the EU has to be seen to stand firm against Russian aggression. It is also pivotal that NATO makes clear that it does not approve of another nation’s sovereignty being breached. This should not mean the USA and UK doing the majority of the diplomatic heavy lifting with France riding shotgun and Germany punching far below its weight. It is time for Germany to be seen as a credible military and diplomatic power once more in order to strengthen security on Continental Europe. Such a sentiment would've seemed somewhat controversial even 30 years ago due to historical baggage but the quarter century reflection of German reunification shows how far the country has progressed.

The world is not the same place it was at the time of the two world wars and the diplomatic landscape has shape shifted beyond recognition since those times. The recent G20 conference in Australia gave Western countries the opportunity to express their displeasure to President Putin over Russia’s conduct in Ukraine which was the appropriate tact. It is fundamental that the diplomatic and economic pressure is maintained until peace is restored on Europe’s eastern borders otherwise all the forthcoming war commemorations lovingly prepared by organisations such as the Royal British Legion in the next four years, will be in vain.  Any escalation to another world war will be a betrayal of society and those brave young men and women from previous conflicts who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us all.