IS IT NOTHING TO YOU? LEST WE FORGET
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
(IN MEMORY OF SOLDIERS AND RADIO OPERATORS WHO DIED IN WAR)
Audio version of the Special Remembrance Day Broadcast available HERE
INTRODUCTION
Remembrance Day is always held on the 11 November. This is the day that World War One ended in 1918, when the armistice was signed in Compiegne, Northern France, at 5am. Six hours later, the fighting stopped, and to commemorate this there is a two-minute silence at 11 am, every 11 November. Many countries have a special day to remember those that fell in their wars; America has Veterans Day, while France has Armistice Day. South Africa commemorate those who fought in wars for
their country. The nearest Sunday to the 11 th is called Remembrance Sunday, when church services are held in honour of those who were involved in wars, and wreaths are laid on the memorials which have a place in many towns in South Africa. Many two-minute silences are followed by a lone bugler playing The Last Post, reminiscent of times of war when trumpets were as much a part of battle as Bayonets.
A poem called ‘For the Fallen’ is often read aloud on the occasion; the most famous stanza of which reads:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
These words can be found adorning many war memorials across the world. The author, Laurence Binyan, was never a soldier but certainly appreciated the horrors of war.
COMMEMORATING FALLEN SOLDIERS
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa fielded all volunteer forces and usually got put into situations everyone else could not manage. Often without the right weaponry or support. In the Second World War, the South Africans lost an entire Division at Tobruk, after being sent in to relieve the Australian Division without anti-tank weapons and without ammunition for what they did have. It was actually a big administrative error - the weapons were available, but someone in Cairo had not signed the paperwork to allow it to be sent to the front. Rommel certainly found that a useful omission when he attacked. Even so, the South Africans held out a lot longer than anyone thought possible.
The Menin “gate” at Ypres, Belgium is a memorial to the fallen of the First World War and is inscribed with the names of those who died on this salient but whose bodies were destroyed, lost or never found. Numbers of South African and New Zealand names were recorded on it. This salient includes the area known as Paschendal, a small village that was wiped from the face of he earth during the fighting. The slaughter in this conflict was horrendous on all sides. The list of names on memorials, where you can see, included fathers, brothers and sons, all listed as killed.
THE HISTORY
'The two minutes' silence to commemorate the first anniversary of the ceasefire of 11 o'clock on 11 November 1918 was almost as much of a surprise to the general public as the ceasefire itself had been. The decision to mark the first anniversary of the Armistice with a silent pause in the life of the nation was taken very close to the anniversary itself. The origins of the silence can be found in a minute dated 4 November 1919, submitted to Lord Milner for the consideration of the War Cabinet by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, former British High Commissioner to the Dominion of South Africa, His son had been killed in France in 1917.
He wrote:
'In the hearts of our people there is a real desire to find some lasting expression of their feeling for those who gave their lives in the war. They want something done now while the memories of sacrifice are in the minds of all; for there is the dread - too well grounded in experience - that those who have gone will not always
be first in the thoughts of all, and that when the fruits of their sacrifice become our daily bread, there will be few occasions to remind us of what we realize so clearly today. During the War, we in South Africa observed what we called the "Three minutes' pause " At noon each day, all work, all talk and all movement were suspended for three minutes that we might concentrate as one in thinking of those - the living and the dead - who had pledged and given themselves for all that we believe in…
Silence, complete and arresting, closed upon the city - the moving, awe-inspiring silence of a great Cathedral where the smallest sound must seem a sacrilege… Only those who have felt it can understand the over mastering effect in action and reaction of a multitude moved suddenly to one thought and one purpose.'
The War Cabinet discussed Fitzpatrick's proposal on 5 November and approved a 'Service of Silence' on Armistice Day. The only amendment the Cabinet made was to amend the duration to one minute, - subject to approval from the King. The King altered the duration of the silence to two minutes. Milner then arranged for the release of the finalized draft to the Dominions and the press.
It was carried by all national newspapers on 7 November 1919:
'Tuesday next, November 11, is the first anniversary of the Armistice, which stayed the world wide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom. I believe that my people in every part of the Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of the Great Deliverance, and of those who have laid down their lives to achieve it. To afford an opportunity for the universal expression of this feeling, it is my desire and hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of our normal activities. No elaborate organization appears to be required. At a given signal, which can easily be arranged to suit the circumstances of the locality, I believe that we shall gladly interrupt our business and pleasure, whatever it may be and unite in this simple service of Silence and Remembrance'. The silence was well observed and a tradition had been established.
Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day..
The poppies are worn because in World War One the Western Front contained in the soil thousands of poppy seeds, all lying dormant. They would have lain there for years more, but the battles being fought there churned up the soil so much that the poppies bloomed like never before. The most famous bloom of poppies in the war
was in Ypres, a town in Flanders, Belgium, which was crucial to the Allied defence. There were three battles there, but it was the second, which was calamitous to the allies since it heralded the first use of the new chlorine gas the Germans were experimenting with, which brought forth the poppies in greatest abundance, and inspired the Canadian soldier, Major John McCrae, to write his most famous poem. This, in turn, inspired the British Legion to adopt the poppy as their emblem.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
Doctor Major John McCrae wrote this poem on May 3, 1915 after the battle at Ypres.
MaCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” remains to this day one of the most memorable war poems ever written. It is a lasting legacy of the terrible battle in the Ypres salient in the spring of 1915.
THE LAST POST
The Last Post is one of a number of bugle calls in military tradition which mark the phases of the day. Where "Reveille" signalled the start of a soldier's day, the "Last Post" signalled its end. It is believed originally to have been part of a more elaborate routine, known in the British Army as "tattoo", that had its origins in the 17th
century. "Last Post" was incorporated into funeral and memorial services as a final farewell and symbolizes that the duty of the dead is over and that they can rest in peace.
THE WORDS TO THE LAST POST
Come home! Come home! The last post is sounding
for you to hear. All good soldiers know very well there
is nothing to fear while they do what is right, and forget
all the worries they have met in their duties through the
year. A soldier cannot always be great, but he can be a
gentleman and he can be a right good pal to his comrades in
his squad. So all you soldiers listen to this – Deal fair by all
and you’ll never be amiss.
Be Brave! Be Just! Be Honest and True Men!
FINALLY
“REMEMBER THE DEAD; DON’T FORGET THE LIVING.”………..“WE SHALL REMEMBER THEM; LEST WE FORGET!”
The Last Post - Bugel Call played over the air ( Courtesy: Music Files Limited)
Listen HERE.
NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS BROADCAST VIA THE GRHUB NETWORK ON THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2021, 11H00 ON ECHOLINK, ALLSTAR, VARIOUS REPEATERS, NETWORKS AND ON 145.550 MHZ SIMPLEX IN MOSSELBAY TO COMMEMORATE FALLEN SOLDIERS AS WELL AS RADIO OPERATORS WHO DIED IN VARIOUS WARS.
LETS NOT FORGET THOSE WHO PAID THE HIGHEST PRICE.
Compiled by Johan ZS1I
November 2004
Source: Several Articles
