The 11th Hour

[ExSurveyor]

[deebee29]

We will remember them

[TheQ]

I vow to the my country,

All earthly things above.

Entire Whole and perfect,

The Service of My Love.


The Love that asks no Question,

The Love that Stands the test.

That lays upon the Alter,

The dearest and the best.


The love that never falters,

The love that pays the price.

The love that makes undaunted,

The Final Sacrifice.


And there's another country,

I've heard of long ago.

Most dear to them who love her,

Most great to them that Know.


We may not count her armies,

We may not see her King.

Her fortress is a faithfull heart,

Her pride is suffering.


And soul by soul and Silently,

Her shining bounds increase.

And her ways are ways of gentleness,

And all her paths are peace.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp7vI5iTZOk

 

We will remember them

[grendel]

Nice to see that even in our multicultural office the 2 minutes silence was observed by all.

[SweetKingfisher1]

I was in a shop and happy to do the 2 minute silence, but sorry to say others did not and carried on shopping . That was very sad to see Regards Marina 

[SueH]

It is a shame that shops don't at least tannoy just before 1100 to remind people.  So many may not be aware despite all the TV advertising.

[ExSurveyor]

My little granddaughter's junior school held a remembrance service with a two minute silence ..  The caretaker marched onto the stage and played The Last Post on a bulge. As an ex-soldier he explained the significance of The Last Post and talked to them about the act of remembrance .

When she called in later I explained that her great grandad was a young bugler in the Royal Marines before the war and showed her his medals from the Pacific,  Atlantic, Buma,  Palastine, and  few other places. 

I hope we never forget 

[BroadAmbition]

My Mrsg is the assistant manager at our local Spar shop, (only she is the manager this week).  They turned  everything off and all the staff stood in a line for 2 x minutes, the customers did the same.

I was on my todd in an unoccupied dwelling but stood to attention for 2 x mins reflection.  Just having two minutes silence and saying 'Thanks' seems so insignificant against what the fallen gave

Griff

[Chelsea14Ian]

Sadly where I was working it was unclear.They sounded the fire alarm  to start the 2 mins silence. Some people  did not realise  and kept  taking.Well done to England and Scotland  for wearing the poppy. Often  the face of football  is to say the least to much money and out of  touch .FIFA take note

[ranworthbreeze]

Our Michael said he was watching the fish bar at their branch of Morrisons, the chap at the counter was standing with his arms held in-front of him observing the two minutes silence like the rest of the staff. A customer (a man in his 50's) went right up to him seemingly unaware what was happening and kept saying I want some haddock, until the silence finished.

Other customers waiting were also nonplussed.

Regards

Alan

[MauriceMynah]

I think quite often it's a case of not noticing that it's 11 o'clock, though seeing others holding their minutes silence should remind them.

I have to admit that it was about quarter past 11 when I remembered to look at my watch and I'd been away from other people at the time so missed it this year.

Oddly enough thinking back, I have no recollection of holding two minutes silence at school apart from various occasions at assembly, and even those were not necessarily remembrance of our war dead, more often than not they were for things like Aberfan.

[Regulo]

I don't remember it at school, either. We did have assembly talks, but I don't recall a 2 minute silence being held. But I do remember seeing traffic stop, and bus drivers leave their cabs to stand in silence when the 11th fell on non-school days. Very moving and impressive. Don't think we'll see that happening again.

[Jim]

On 11/11/2016 at 0:58 PM, SueH said:

It is a shame that shops don't at least tannoy just before 1100 to remind people.  So many may not be aware despite all the TV advertising.

London Heathrow put a message out on all radios.  Was halfway being admitted to work airside when the announcement came through.

[ExSurveyor]

One of the many reasons I support the Royal British Legion .

[JennyMorgan]

Some years ago I was fishing with my father, bites were rather more than sparse when along came the eleventh hour, my father, who went to Normandy, lowered his head in reverence to the companions that he'd lost. As you might expect his rod started to jump up and down, an obvious cod bite demanding attention. I have never forgotten that moment, the ignored bite and the sincerity of my father.  I suppose I was about ten years old at the time.   

Mark, a very poignant image and comment. 

[Wussername]

My grandfather served in the first world war.

I loved and respected him dearly for all that he taught me and told me about fishing, sailing and the Broads as a young boy.

One early winter evening in November I asked him " Grandad, tell me about the war."

He fell silent, his eyes welled up.

"I cannot, I cannot"

I never asked him again.

 

[ExSurveyor]

My earliest memory of Remembrance Sunday is as a 6 years old and seeing my Royal Marine dad with silent tears as he remembered his comrades in arms who died each side of him in Aden. 

He never spoke about his service until a month before he died,  and then only briefly .. 

[Vaughan]

My father didn't talk much either. He just told the jokes, about things that went wrong, or the funny signals sent between ships. It was only if he was with others who had also been in the Navy that the real stories would come out. He was a debonair and very carefree man, as I remember him. I have always thought that this was because he was surprised to have survived the war and from then on life held no surprises for him.

He had lots of ex-naval friends but none who had actually served with him on MTBs during the war. They had all been killed.

He served in RNVR Coastal Forces, in sea command, from 1935 to 1948 and during the war he was in the "front line" pretty much all the time, ending up being decorated 3 times, mentioned in dispatches twice and posted missing believed killed in action, also twice.

And yet he laughed it off, over a pink gin in the Buck.

The only time was today, when they held the parade on Thorpe Green in front of the War memorial and all the Cubs, Scouts and Girl Guides (one of whom is now my wife) lined up for the Last Post. All of a sudden he would stand quite still and a tear would come to his eye. I don't know where he "was" at those moments, but it was the only time he would ever show real emotion.

[Poppy]

My father served in N. Africa and then Palestine.  He had almost nothing to say, so did my father in law who was also in N. Africa and then Italy. He was similarly silent.

It's my impression that in many cases it's empty vessels who make the most noise .

 

[MauriceMynah]

25 minutes ago, Poppy said:

It's my impression that in many cases it's empty vessels who make the most noise .

That's a tad harsh Poppy, people get over things in differing ways. Some talk, others don't.

[Timbo]

World War II my immediate family, grandparents, were in reserved occupations. Mum's family owned the farms and Dad's family were the ploughmen. At the start of the hostilities Mum's dad tried to join up but was rejected due to his occupation and eyesight. Undeterred he fell out with his father and went to work down the pit where for his actions after the mine collapsed he received the George Medal. My paternal grandfather continued work as a ploughman but also served as a fireman at night.

World War I was devastating for our family as evidenced by the large number of maiden aunts in the family. My maternal grandmother was one of sixteen children. Eight sons were killed in action alongside the fiance's and husbands of the daughters, only three of which went on to marry. My paternal great grandfather was a gunner in the horse artillery. On return from the war he was too injured to work and made his living from angling in competitive matches for money. 

 

[Polly]

We were in the park at Tonbridge on Friday, and had lost track of the time, so when there was a tremendous bang it caught us by surprise, and all the toddlers on the swings etc. dissolved into tears. They fired a cannon, from the castle above, again two minutes later. 

Ok so we spent the time reassuring small people, and not silent. However, it made me think about the toddlers worldwide who are hearing those explosions and for whom there is no reassurance. Tragic.

As a toddler myself, I heard some pretty graphic stuff from my beloved WW1 veteran grandfather, along with songs and lighter anecdotes. Grandma protested that I shouldn't be told such stuff, 'She's got to hear it' he replied, ' this must never happen again.'  I wish he had been able to get that point across to the power hungry of this world.

On Thursday, I was working with a class of 7 year olds in Croydon, and used a poppy as my starting point. Their sincerity and concern was moving, they certainly knew why they were wearing poppies.

[Poppy]

[BroadAmbition]

Mark - A very moving photo you posted there, yours too Poppy  - Respect.

Our guns at the clay ground today fell silent too as they should.  It was a very moving moment

Griff

 

[addicted]

Having been born shorty before the war ended I have no memories of it as such only the return of my Godfather who came home after 5 long years away. the latter part as a desert rat in Tobruk, to find the beautiful wife he had married shortly before embarking  was  now a shell of a girl dying of T.B.. He was in a very poor way -  nerves shot. I  recall he always said  there was no man he would rather fight along  side than an Aussie.

My husband's memory of the war years are of  heading for the air raid shelter with his pillow under one arm and his teddy under the other,

 

regards,

Carole