Today marks the one hundred and seventh anniversary of the Armistice that ended the fighting on the Western Front.
'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.’
‘When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.’
‘We will remember them.’
This year we attended a special event at Shrewsbury House (our local community centre) on Friday 6th November. It was put on by the Shooters Hill Drama Collective and was entitled ECHOES OF THE GREAT WAR. It was an evening of dramatic readings, poetry and performance that brought to life the voices and stories of those who lived, worked and fought during the First World War. All profits from the sale of tickets were donated to the military charity Blesma.
On Sunday 8th December, we attended the Service of Remembrance at St George's Garrison Church, Woolwich. It was conducted by the Reverend Dr Adam Scott, a retired Army chaplain
There were over 150 people present, including representatives of the Army's Woolwich Station, the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, the local MP (Matthew Pennycook), the local Royal Greenwich Council (including the Deputy Mayor, Raja Zeeshan), the local Gurkha and Nepali community, the Metropolitan Police, the London Fire Brigade, the local Army Cadets, and the local branch of the Royal British Legion.
It was a very moving service, made all the more so by the personal tributes paid to Major Pat Porteous VC (1918 to 2000), Fusilier Donal Meade (1985 to 2005), and Captain Phillip Muldowney (2001 to 2026), all of whom had a conection with Woolwich and Plumstead.
Following is an extract from the Bidding Prayer for the Nine Lessons and Carols, and given its words there's no surprise in discovering it was written in 1918 by a veteran (Revd Eric Milner-White CBE DSO, 1884-1963):
ReplyDelete"…first let us pray for the needs of his whole world; for peace and health over all the earth; for unity and goodwill within the Church he came to build, and especially in the dominions of our sovereign …:
"And because this of all things would rejoice his [God's] heart, let us at this time remember in his name the poor and the helpless, the cold and the hungry, the abused, the exploited and the oppressed; the sick in body and in mind and them that mourn; the isolated, the lonely and the unloved; the elderly and the little children; all who know not the Lord Jesus, or who love him not, or who by sin have grieved his heart of love.
"Lastly, let us remember before God all those who rejoice with us, but upon another shore and in a greater light, that multitude which no man can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, and with whom, in this Lord Jesus, we for evermore are one."
Some years back, this was described as the most powerful Anglican prayer since the 16th century Prayer Book.
There's also a wonderful maritime remembrance poem, a companion to In Flanders Fields; this by Eileen Mahoney:
In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row,
Their young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…
The spirited, the good, the brave,
But stars a constant vigil keep,
For them who lie beneath the deep.
‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”
But you can to the ocean go…
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride…
In and out… with every tide.
And when your span of life is passed,
He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who’ll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row.
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived… they chose the sea…
Toby E,
DeleteThank you for sharing these with me. I must admit that the poem was new to me although I had heard the Bidding Prayer before. They are both apposite for this particular day of the year.
Many thanks,
Bob
A time for remembrance - and a time for reflection. In recent months quite a lot of bellicose talk is coming out of the UK - and other perturbances, too, which might have been familiar to the people who fought in the other great conflict - the sort of thing that men chose to fight against.
ReplyDeleteRecall the refrain: 'Britons never, never, never shall be slaves...'
Sad, really - at several levels...
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteI can remember a time when politicians in the UK had had personal experience of war ... and it made them reluctant to take the country into a war that would cost the lives of young men - and nowadays, young women - unless they were absolutely sure that no alternative existed. The last time that this was true was the Falklands War ... and I know that there was considerable reluctance on the part of many senior politicians to using force to retake the islands. It was the intransigence of the Argentinian military junta and its civil rights record that convinced them that war was the only way to effect change.
Nowadays, political leaders are far too prone to seeing the use of military force as the first response to serious situations rather than as one of several options open to them. That makes our world a far more dangerous place than it might be.
It's interesting to note that the original version of 'Rule, Britannia!' was written at the time of the War of Jenkin's Ear, just after Britain had finally pushed the Netherlands out of its position as the premier naval power in Europe and was ready to challenge the next - Spain - for control of the Caribbean. It's also interesting to note that the lyrics have subtly changed over the years. 'Britannia rule the waves' became 'Britannia rules the waves' and 'Britons never will be slaves' changed to 'Britons never shall be slaves'.
All the best,
Bob