Lest We REALLY Forget…

I’m always moved by World War 2 anniversaries. But..!

6 June 2024, was the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when the allied forces landed at Normandy, France, to begin the liberation of Europe from the Nazis.

I’m always moved by veterans… probably because my Dad is… was… one.

He lied about his age and joined up. He was in the Parachute Regiment and dropped at Arnhem… ‘A Bridge Too Far’. He was wounded but (fortunately for me!) he survived although he spent the rest of the war in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Seeing the Vets and the celebrations are somewhat conflicting. Because sometimes the celebrations seem to celebrate the glory of war and how good ‘Sacrifice’ seems to be. The reality is seen with some of the interviews I saw though. 90-plus year olds who, to a man and woman, said “Avoid War!”

We rarely consider the compass – moral or otherwise – and the stupidity of some of the elite and those in a position of authority who force most of us ‘ordinary’ folk to become machine gun fodder for their overblown or extreme ambitions, ideals and ideas. No celebration of the survivors detracts from the fact that throughout history, normal, everyday men and women have done – and still do – some remarkable things. But why have they had to? And still seem to be having to! Why?

Was the Second World War the last truly just war? And let’s be honest, IS there even such a thing as a ‘just’ war?

I can’t help but feel that humanity is still pre-adolescent. We’re nations but still bickering over things, like kids in a playground. “No, I’m bigger and better than you!” “I want that sweet! Give it me or I’ll take it…!”

We all remember bullies at school. But we’ve had the War To End All Wars in 1914-18. We had the Second World War. Look at what’s happening in the Middle East and in Ukraine today. The temptation… surely you feel this too?… is to say “Oi… World Leaders… GROW UP!”

It’s a bit egotistical perhaps, but I’ll quote the last lines I wrote when I was finishing my one-person version of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Having just adapted the Battle of Agincourt, I was heading back upstairs to my little office – the small bedroom! My girlfriend had the TV on and I was hearing reports about an escalating conflict in Bosnia.

The Chorus – storyteller – at the end of my play ‘Henry v – Lion of England’ says…

“Leave us now, but think on our tale, then look at the world and muse.

How little, little mankind has grown. And how much we all still have to loose.”