I took a few moments yesterday to remember the men and women who, on all sides, gave their lives so that I (We) could live free.
I didn't attend a ceremony and I didn't even watch the Remembrance Day coverage on television...but I walked with my dogs and thought about their sacrifice.
Here in France, it is a national holiday today (11 November) as France always remember their war dead on 11 November. I will shortly walk my dogs, and remember again.
Putting politics to one side for just one day, I do feel that the world should remember those who fought and died. Perhaps the act of remembrance isn't as powerful as it once was, especially as we tend to mainly remember the two world wars much more than conflicts in recent years.
Fabian Ware's vision of an Imperial (now Coomonwealth) War Graves Commission (CWGC) is not without controversy but nonetheless, the many war graves around the world will always be maintained to remember British and Commonwealth dead.
Whilst we should never forget the dead, I think we should also spend a moment to recognise the unsung heroes who keep the CWGC graveyards in such pristine condition.
There are more than 900 gardeners - some as mobile gardening units - employed tending 1,750 acres of ground.
The CWGC say "the horticultural department has, since the beginning, played a major part in the look and feel of our cemeteries."
From 2014 there will begin four years of remembrance, as it's one hundred years since the start of the Great War.
The CGWC will have its work cut our preparing and maintaining cemeteries and gardens as hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people, visit and pay their respects.
Website: CWGC Horticulture
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