On November 11 ceremonies are held to remember those who fought for their countries in wars. This need to commemorate was recognized after World War I, a war that is sometimes known as the Great War and which was billed at the time as the war to end all wars.
But more people were involved in war efforts than those who wore the uniforms of the various forces. The Land Army recruited women, many of them with little knowledge of agriculture, to help run farms to keep the population fed. There were the Canary Girls, the munitions workers who worked in dangerous conditions and the merchant navy battled through more than heavy seas to keep Britain supplied with food and goods to fight the war.
In his "Personal Wartime Memories", my father wrote about the hollowness of participating in ceremonies wearing his wartime medals when his brother, who had been torpedoed several times while in the Merchant Navy, received no recognition. And truly, the efforts of all who supported the war efforts, whether in uniform or not, deserve to be remembered.
No comments:
Post a Comment