Lest we forget the real lesson of WWI
Monday 12 November 2012
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EmailWhile I admire the aims of those who wrote that the 1914-1919 date on war memorials was due to Russian intervention, I would like to point out that memorials cite 1919 because it marks when the Treaty of Versailles was signed.
This is the reason given by both the War Memorials Trust and the UK National Inventory of War Memorials. It is also why some US war memorials mark the end of the war as 1921, when the US-German peace treaty was signed.
However, these discussions should not detract from the main points we should learn from war memorials - that lives of ordinary people are senselessly lost through war, nationalism and militarism.
We must remember and honour our war dead if we are to remember the costs and futility of war and must not turn to jingoism or agenda-pushing in their name.
As Phil Brand points out in his letter (M Star November 9) this also means remembering those lost in wars many would rather we forget and perhaps most importantly remembering those on both sides.
Those who wish to show their respect for those lost in wars and promote peace but dislike some of the implications of the red poppy may be interested in the white poppies offered by the Peace Pledge Union (details at www.ppu.org.uk).
I for one have been wearing both.
Robin Jervis
York
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