curiouswombat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
curiouswombat) wrote2012-11-11 03:23 pm
curiouswombat) wrote2012-11-11 03:23 pm
Remembrance Sunday.
Today, like most churches in The British Isles (those in Eire possibly being an exception), we held a special service of Remembrance for all those who have died in wars, both in the last century and this one, both servicemen and women and those who had no choice because war came to them.
As we do every year, we read out the names of those members of our congregation killed in the two World Wars, and were quietly grateful that our congregation has lost no-one to war since.
As we did this, the children 'planted' the poppies we made last week into the 'cornfield' that they also made last week - one for each of those named on our memorial, one for servicemen who have died since, one for servicemen who are still serving, and one for the others, men, women and children, caught up in conflict.
Then I spoke for a few minutes, particularly aimed at the children and young people.
I have put what I said under a cut, for length.
I am going to tell you about a young man called Walter who was born on 1st August.
(Anyone here born on that day? Or in August?)
He was christened on 31st August in Castletown – I wonder if his mum and dad had a long family christening robe?
His family moved to Douglas. They lived in Grosvenor Road. They started to come to St Andrews Church, and Walter came to Sunday School.
Is Anyone here 15? Nearly 15? Well something very big happened only 3 days after Walter's 15th birthday.
You see Walter was born on 1st August 1899 and so what happened was the outbreak of War on August 4th 1914.
His everyday life probably didn’t change much – but there would have been much more exciting stories in the Courier and the Examiner than there had been before! Then the stories became about Manxmen who had been injured, or had died - perhaps he knew some of them, or their brothers and sisters.
By the time he was 16 or 17 things would have been closer to home – Walter’s big brother Horace had joined the army and would be away fighting in France, so had his cousin Eddie.
Walter joined the army, too – as soon as he could – so when he was 18. You went to train first – but not for very long… So by the time he was 18½ he was fighting in the trenches of the First World War. You’ve all seen the pictures…
Walter had his 19th birthday whilst he was in France – I don’t know if he spent it in a trench, or if he was behind the lines and managed to spend it in somewhere a bit more comfortable. I hope it was somewhere dry, and that, perhaps, he got a present or two from home.
But one thing I do know… that was his last birthday ever – because on 23rd August 1918 Walter Carr Cannell was killed in what was called the 100 day offensive.
He never came back to Grosvenor Rd, to church…
But every year we remember him, and the others – because his name is there on our War Memorial.
And I just want you to remember that all those people were ordinary people, like us – and they didn’t go to fight because they liked the idea – they did it because they thought it was right. It might have been right – but it must have been horrible almost all the time – and imagine how his Mum and Dad felt, when they got the letter to say Walter was dead.
So we must remember them to help us remember that war is almost never the answer…
Later we were talking about the Poppy Appeal, which raises money for ex-servicemen. Last year they raised £38m. One of the teenagers pointed out that that would be enough to buy 'a pretty good football player'. It kind of puts our priorities into perspective, doesn't it?
As we do every year, we read out the names of those members of our congregation killed in the two World Wars, and were quietly grateful that our congregation has lost no-one to war since.
As we did this, the children 'planted' the poppies we made last week into the 'cornfield' that they also made last week - one for each of those named on our memorial, one for servicemen who have died since, one for servicemen who are still serving, and one for the others, men, women and children, caught up in conflict.
Then I spoke for a few minutes, particularly aimed at the children and young people.
I have put what I said under a cut, for length.
I am going to tell you about a young man called Walter who was born on 1st August.
(Anyone here born on that day? Or in August?)
He was christened on 31st August in Castletown – I wonder if his mum and dad had a long family christening robe?
His family moved to Douglas. They lived in Grosvenor Road. They started to come to St Andrews Church, and Walter came to Sunday School.
Is Anyone here 15? Nearly 15? Well something very big happened only 3 days after Walter's 15th birthday.
You see Walter was born on 1st August 1899 and so what happened was the outbreak of War on August 4th 1914.
His everyday life probably didn’t change much – but there would have been much more exciting stories in the Courier and the Examiner than there had been before! Then the stories became about Manxmen who had been injured, or had died - perhaps he knew some of them, or their brothers and sisters.
By the time he was 16 or 17 things would have been closer to home – Walter’s big brother Horace had joined the army and would be away fighting in France, so had his cousin Eddie.
Walter joined the army, too – as soon as he could – so when he was 18. You went to train first – but not for very long… So by the time he was 18½ he was fighting in the trenches of the First World War. You’ve all seen the pictures…
Walter had his 19th birthday whilst he was in France – I don’t know if he spent it in a trench, or if he was behind the lines and managed to spend it in somewhere a bit more comfortable. I hope it was somewhere dry, and that, perhaps, he got a present or two from home.
But one thing I do know… that was his last birthday ever – because on 23rd August 1918 Walter Carr Cannell was killed in what was called the 100 day offensive.
He never came back to Grosvenor Rd, to church…
But every year we remember him, and the others – because his name is there on our War Memorial.
And I just want you to remember that all those people were ordinary people, like us – and they didn’t go to fight because they liked the idea – they did it because they thought it was right. It might have been right – but it must have been horrible almost all the time – and imagine how his Mum and Dad felt, when they got the letter to say Walter was dead.
So we must remember them to help us remember that war is almost never the answer…
Later we were talking about the Poppy Appeal, which raises money for ex-servicemen. Last year they raised £38m. One of the teenagers pointed out that that would be enough to buy 'a pretty good football player'. It kind of puts our priorities into perspective, doesn't it?
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"We will remember them"
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He just happens to be one of the ones on our memorial that we have been able to find quite a lot out about.
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I was particularly moved and pleased to hear, on the news just now, that the Taoiseach attended a Remembrance Day service in Enniskillen, for the first time ever. Given how many lives were lost or maimed attempting to bring peace to Northern Ireland, that is a hopeful moment, I think...
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I hope that that tight focus actually helps to make all that black and white footage more real.
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Yes - absolutely. I think that at least the ten year olds and up 'got' it - and the little ones will remember 'planting' poppies.
And that is such good news about the Taoiseach - I hadn't seen it. Mind you all that was on the BBC news this morning was news about BBC news. And the Taoiseach attending the Enniskillen service is a good deal more important, I think.
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Our old minister felt it was not a service in which to involve the children. When he retired, leaving us pretty much to do our own thing(!), we decided that it should. The lay preacher who was to lead that first Family Remembrance Service was unsure - but said she would give it a try if those of us who work with the children had some ideas, at least.
It turned out to be the most moving service many of the adults had ever been too. And somehow, by involving the children each year since, the whole service has become more meaningful.
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I can, actually, imagine all those poppies. At the Festival of Remembrance from the Royal Albert Hall, which I have watched on TV every year that I can remember, there is a part where they release a poppy petal for every service person killed in both World Wars and since.
They fall from the ceiling, in silence, onto all those gathered below. And they fall, and they fall; slowly they pile up on the floor, and catch in the hair, on the caps, on the shoulders, of those who stand below. And every year there are more petals.
You can see it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvkpDWU8tqU) if you have never seen it. I'm guessing it is a very British thing.
ETA - and Gillo has also posted a video of it on her journal, here (http://gillo.livejournal.com/447149.html?view=7230125#t7230125).
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*nods* yes, priorities are indeed skewed. There was a report here after the election about the money spent on the campaigns. Each candidate spent well over a billion (count'em - billion!) dollars - mostly on nasty ads that everyone was so sick of by the actual election that you probably heard the cheer all the way over there. That wouldn't have wiped out the National Debt that everyone goes on about - but it certainly would have put a dent in it. Or funded any number of worthwhile programs that may end up being cut in a, perhaps futile, attempt to lower the debt.
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The total waste of money on political advertising is just... gah! How can they waste so much on so little? They should be forced, all politicians, to put as much into paying for the health service, or schools, or even road maintenance funds as they do on each advert - up front, before the ads are shown! And the same when clubs buy sportsmen's contracts, too!
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But there seemed to be a good turnout in the village - I was only just able to get through, to go to Church, before they shut the road - and there were already a good few people waiting.
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I like Lead Kindly Light. Would you believe that I~ can't remember all the hymns we sang this morning? That I've already forgotten? Meep!
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I always get through at least 3 poppies as I lose them so regularly. I am seriously thinking abut getting one of the 'posh' ones for next year!
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That's a lovely service you had.
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The children's poppy-filled cornfield was a very good focal point, too - yes, a good service.
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- Erulisse (one L)
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(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 02:40 am (UTC)(link)I am just so thankful that my son made it back from Iraq in one piece, at least physically.
I think The Green Fields of France by the Celtic Tenors gives a good idea of the futility of war.
Thankful Huggs,
Lynda
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I am glad, too, that your son made it back from Iraq in one piece. Glad, too, that we now recognise that going through war means they are not exactly the person they would have been if they had lived that period at home; it is bound to leave a mark just as every other experience does.
{{hugs}}
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