2008: 90th Anniversary of the ending of the Great War
So horrendous, it was believed to be the War to end all wars. It involved such a vast number of nations and peoples, military and civilian, across the globe that it became known as a world war, the First World War. It began and it finished where it began
– in Flanders, just the other side of the Channel.
There is hardly a family in Britain today
– or in the Commonwealth for that matter – who was not affected by the 1914-18 Great War. Either because they fought in it, or because a loved one was killed or wounded, physically or psychologically, far away from home. And because it was to have a profound impact on the social order of the day.
There are but a handful of old soldiers still alive. And the numbers are fast dwindling of those who listened to firsthand tales of the conflict. But the memory is kept alive by the hundreds of lovingly tended monuments and cemeteries for those who sacrificed themselves for their fellow-men.
There’s no better time than now to go and find out more
Why not learn more about the experiences of your own family members? And why not get in your car and head for the sites where they may have played their part or where other locals from their town or village, their school or workplace or regiment, may have been involved? (If you need to want to find out where a relative’s grave is located, contact the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.)
Illustration: Poppies - The first flowers to grow following the devastation of land and communities in Flanders were the poppy. They were to become for the British and Commonwealth a symbol of sacrifice, of remembrance, hope, and the renewal of life. Today, they still grow wild in profusion in the meadows, fields and verges.