Armistice Day & Remembrance Sunday.

[supergran]

Just thought I'd start this so anyone can post their thoughts on these special days. Husband, whose father died in Tunisia in 1943 is at St Helens Town Hall for Armistice Day ceremony. I watched Sky News coverage with sadness for all those who died in the wars and conflicts since 1914. On Sunday we will all be there for Remembrance Sunday which will be specially poignant this year as a St Helens soldier was killed last year aged 22. I will wear my poppy with pride. At the going down of the sun and in the morning...we will remember them.

[Alis]

I can still remember the feeling of unreality when we went to war with Argentina in the '80s - no-one could believe that we were at war - we had all hoped it would never happen again. Now it just seems to be commonplace - so many lives lost - so sad.

[supergran]

Watched the Festival of Remembrance from the Albert Hall tonight. It was truly uplifting and moving. To see veterans side by side with young members of the Armed Forces plus the widows and families of the fallen is very emotional. The music and singing was brilliant..Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe to name but two. The Gurkha display was fantastic as were the bands , pipers and choir. Felt very proud and also very humble. #lestweforget

[supergran]

Very disappointed at the response to this thread. More posts for the X-Factor!! Anyway we went en famille to our local Remembrance Service. It was very moving especially when a soldier who had lost both legs and an arm did one of the readings. I was proud to shake his hand later. Lovely boy...got a bit emotional chatting to him. After refreshments and lovely chats to veterans and young people and saying hello to old soldiers, sailors and airmen who we see every year we left and went for Sunday Lunch. It is amazing how the crowds have grown. I have been going with my husband for over 40 years when there were not many people and now it is so crowded you have to be there early. An important day for us as husband lost his father when he was three and we will always honour the day, But to see young people and families who have lost loved ones or who are there because loved ones are serving in war zones makes it so real and poignant.."They shall not grow 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,

[Alis]

I think the fund raising for Help the Heroes has generally raised awareness - it seems to me that many more people have been wearing poppies this year.

[VamosVixs]

I wore my poppy with pride.

Fondly remembered my grandad who fought in WW2. He was stationed in Shetland at the start of the war until his friend volunteered them both for the paratroopers as you got paid a shilling more!!!! So then he was jumping out of a plane in Arnhem when he was separated from the rest of his company and a kind dutch family helped him to hide from the Germans but after a while my Grandad bravely surrendered as he did not want the dutch family to get killed because of him and he ended up in a POW camp until 1945. I proudly have his medals on my living room wall. Really wanted to hear more about his time during WW2 but he very rarely spoke about it to anyone. Out of his company of 150, only 5 men (including my grandad) came back alive, must have been so hard to come to terms with. Never ever forget what these brave men and women have done for our country.

[JAMES4578]

Glad there was so much support Supergran, we should certainly always remember the sacrifices throughout the generations. Good to see that Andy showed his support for the Poppy Appeal.

[supergran]

What a story Vicki...so moving. My grandfather also served but in the first world war. He left with four daughters and when he returned he had four sons, We always said that was nature's way of replacing the young men who were lost. He used to tell us a story of sharing black bread with German POWs on a long train journey taking them to a prison camp.. He was a lovely man!

[traveller7]

I didnt make my local church service due to not feeling well but watched the cenotaph ceremony and later on sang along to Songs of Praise and observed the silence at 11am. I have no personal connection with the war as have no living relatives who were in it, although my nan worked in a factory during the second world war. However I have always supported armistace day and wear a poppy and if I have kids I will teach them the importance of the significant day. Eventually there will be no WW2 surviviors to tell the stories and it will up to my generation and beyond to keep it alive.
My local memorial was vandalised the other day by some disrespecting people and had graffiti all over it, I pray that they managed to clean it off for today as they lay wreaths there and have a ceremony.

[Jan]

At our remembrance day service yesterday we did something which I thought was very powerful - everyone in the congregation walked to the front (not all at once!!) and placed their poppies in a wire frame in the shape of a cross. My grandad was in the medical corps at Ypres and my dad in the Royal Army Service Corps in WW2 in North Africa and Italy. I have his medals, cap badge and cloth badges in a frame with his photo.

[Alis]

My father (who was 60+) when I was born served in the RN during the First World War - he was in charge of the engine room on a battleship which was battened down when they went into battle. At the Battle of Jutland the ship in front of him in the line and the ship behind him in the line were both blown to smithereens - the chief engineers on both ships had been close friends of his. My mother's youngest brother was a pilot of a Lancaster during WW2 and was killed on a bombing mission three months before the end of the war - her next brother was lost on the Russian convoys. As my father was too old to serve in WW2 but still had skills as an engineer, he was posted to the Woolwich Arsenal. Although his office took a direct hit he survived and my family, who lived in London throughout, survived numerous air raids. They stopped replacing the windows in the house because they had been blown out so often and my mother gave birth to my brother on a mattress on the floor under the kitchen table during a raid! They were delighted to return to the tranquility of rural Perthshire when it was all over.

[ljs]

Alis , your dad was 60 + when you were born ?? Wow !!!

I dont think we can really imagine what so many went thru during the wars , and the sad thing is its still happening :sad:

[Alis]

Alis , your dad was 60 + when you were born ?? Wow !!!

I dont think we can really imagine what so many went thru during the wars , and the sad thing is its still happening :sad:

Yes, although it never occurred to me that he was an older dad when I was a child - I'm sure a lot of people thought he was my Grandfather. We had the family record until just recently when my cousin became a father at 68 and then again at 70! Must run in the family!!

[Linda]

We had the usual big turnout for the Remembrance Day service at our church yesterday, with the Guides, Brownies & Scouts on parade.

My father was in the RAF in World War II. He was shot down over Holland - the rest of his crew did not survive - and the resistance movement helped him to travel secretly through Belgium and France, with the purpose of getting over the border to neutral Spain. However when he reached Bordeaux someone betrayed him to the Gestapo. He was taken to Fresne prison in Paris where they treated him as a spy and tried to get him to talk. Eventually they believed that he was RAF and he was sent to a Stalag Luft. Then Germany started to lose the war so the Germans were retreating - taking the POWs with them. They were all marched across Germany (they called it the Long March) and several times were fired on by the RAF who assumed that the columns of marching men were all Germans. Eventually they heard that peace had been declared and they were released. He never forgot his aircrew - my brother was named after one of them, and shortly before my father died he woke up in the night to see them all sitting on the end of his bed.

[RoastLamb]

Some amazing family stories!!! Thanks for sharing.

I don't have any really except that my Great Uncle (Jewish) was taken to a German camp and blinded there. He survived and came to the UK along with the rest of my immediate German family (maternal).

[pippadaisy]

have just read through these posts. I guess we all have connections in one way or another
My mum tells of stories when she was young and she was evacuated with her mum and brother and sisters
she also told how my grandfather was a fireman during the war, and how he didn't like to speak of it as it affected him
so much.
At school I did the first world war. My son who did this in advanced higher also had a list of soldiers shot for desertion
which I found terribly sad, especially as nowadays we are much more understanding of the hell they went/and still go through.
He has also visited Auschswitz. I say this only to let you know the younger generation are aware of the sacrifices made both in the past and
the present and that the stories we pass on do have an effect.

[karanga]

Thanks for sharing such sad memories.

My father was in the RAF during the war and was sent to Zimbabwe to train Rhodesian pilots. He was not very happy about this as he wanted to be in the front line of action. He was killed in a flying accident there and my mother and I travelled back to England in convoy. We were very fortunate because the boat we were supposed to travel on was torpedoed.

After the war my mother married my father's best friend. He was in the Royal Tank Regiment and was involved in the North Africa and Italian campaigns. He was captured by the Germans in Italy and on his way to a prisoner of war camp by train he jumped off the train and was helped by villagers in a nearby village to reach British forces.

[supergran]

Thank you for all the fascinating and very moving accounts of your families' experiences in the wars. Sorry you lost your father Karanga....such a sad and emotional story. Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts.

[Genbrit]

Thank you everyone, it is amazing the stories everyone has. At the beginning of the year we had a holocaust survivor, Steven Nasser, come to the school to tell his story. It was extremely interesting to hear how he survived the holocaust. He is a very powerful speaker and we all, students included were riveted to our chairs. He tours schools and is ensuring that the holocaust is remembered. He has written a book "My Brothers Voice" which is based on a diary of notes he kept whilst at the camp. He managed to keep this hidden all the while he was there.