Stained Glass window viewed from inside St. Catherine's Church

Remembering past wars

The annual act of remembrance often focuses on an anniversary that occurred that year. Unusually, this year there are two anniversaries from different wars that are to be remembered. The first anniversary is Thursday 6 June 2024, the 80th anniversary of D-Day was commemorated on both sides of the English Channel. It is believed to be the last anniversary with soldiers from the D-Day landings still present, bearing in mind most of the survivors were either over 100 years old or in their late nineties. Winston Churchill’s famous speech was about D-Day.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air,
we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender……..”

It is interesting to note that he is often misquoted as saying “we shall fight them on the beaches”, there is no “them” in his speech. It is also sobering to reflect that there was almost another year of fighting between D-Day and the end of the war in Europe on the 8th of May 1945, and the 15th of August 1945 marked the end of the war in Japan and the world. In the First World War, everyone thought it would be over in a few months, home in time for Christmas. It took another four years until that anticipated end was accomplished. So often conflicts stretch on much longer than anyone could imagine or hoped they would.
The second anniversary is a significant milestone, the 25th anniversary of the end of the war in Kosovo and the deployment of the NATO peace-support force. The breakup of Yugoslavia led to fighting between Serbian and Kosovar Albanian forces. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced from their homes.

As I write, new battle lines are still being drawn between Israel and Palestine, Ukraine and Russia. There is the same question of how long these conflicts will continue and what will be the human cost of the dead, injured and displaced people. The First World War was said to be “the war to end all wars”. Over a hundred and ten years later people are still waging war.

Sometimes all that remains is more bitterness and further conflicts. We need to draw inspiration from Nelson Mandela who rejected recrimination in favour of reconciliation. There always needs to be reconciliation for peace to transform these difficult situations.

Rev. Martin Wood. The Rectory, Church Lane, Cheriton Bishop EX6 6HY 01647 24119 (Tuesday to Sunday) revwood163@gmail.com