The Act of Remembrance

We travelled back to France on November 11 which is a national holiday over here. In our village the remembrance service takes place in the square, which is next to the village memorial. The memorial is an obelisk shape, with names on each side, grouped as is often the case under the war in which they fought, and the year in which they died. It carries many surnames that we have come to know over the last few years and is very much a link between past and present. In Cravant there are families who have lived here for several generations.  Some individuals were born here, went to the village school, grew-up in the country lanes and played in the fields, together with their friends, and have continued working in Cravant or nearby. It's a very different way of life and with it comes a depth of knowledge about each other, that can only happen when you've lived in close proximity and for a long time.

An interesting article appeared on the BBC website dated 5 November 2013. 'How should we remember a war?'. It raises some difficult and sensitive issues. We were discussing remembrance at a dinner party with friends in the UK, who were concerned that the televised service only served to glorify war. For some this may well be true, but I don't think for everyone, and I'm not sure I could make that suggestion over here and expect to get a polite response. As someone said to me at a dinner party last year, with French acquaintances, the British don't know what it's like to be invaded and what you have to do to survive. I imagine that those memories present a entirely different dimension to remembrance. Just very glad not to have had to experience it.