Sunday 11 November 2007

Remembrance Day, 2007

Remembrance Day 2007 was particularly poignant. All over the globe, conflict, of one sort or another, is still flourishing. Hopes that the Cold War had ended were premature - it appears to be getting colder again. Servicemen and women serving in 'Hot Wars' in Iraq and Afghanistan are adding to the already appalling lists of injured and killed from earlier wars. This year, I visited Hiroshima. Despite the terrible evidence from Japan, the spectre of nuclear warfare remains omnipresent. It seems that Mankind is unable to learn from its errors.
On 11th November, with Ann and Dean, I visited the German Cemetery on Cannock Chase. Here, the deaths of 2,145 combatants from World War I and 2,786 combatants from World War II who died on British territory are commemorated. The details of the cemetery are a little different from the well-known pattern of war graves for British combatants but the effect is moving and deceptively peaceful.
The picture above shows the figure of a fallen soldier surrounded by the wreaths of former enemies placed that morning.