Staff Sergeant George Cyril Cordery and Regimental Sergeant Major Arthur Jackson

On this day – the eleventh day of the eleventh month – we remember those who served their country in whatever way that they could. Both my father – Staff Sergeant George Cyril Cordery – and my maternal grandfather – Regimental Sergeant Major Arthur Jackson – served with the British Army during World War II, and their medals are proudly displayed in cabinets on the stairs in my home.

I see these medals every time I walk up and down the stairs, but today they reminded me not only the members of my own family who served, but also of the others who served alongside them and who – unlike my father and grandfather – did not return home to their families after the war.

We shall remember them.