Here in the UK this coming Sunday is our annual Remembrance Sunday, the day on which we remember and thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom. I have posted for this every year since I started this blog: it is an important occasion for which I always want to mark my respect. In previous years I have told you of local events, of the forebears of my football team who went off to join up for WW1, and have shared poetry like the one above. I have played music to mark the event and that is what I’m doing again this year. All but one of these is here for the first time, though another has appeared in a different version. What I am doing today is to take you through the human aspects of war, and how it has been represented in song. I am particularly fond of songs that tell a story, and these do that very well.
At the beginning of a war, there is usually a popular patriotic fervour, and this was true of 1939 when WW2 began. One of my favourite singer-songwriters has a song which tells of that time, of the emotions that young soldiers were going through, and the apprehension they felt about going into the unknown:
Optimism, hope and fear captured by Ralph McTell in the three minutes of the Maginot Waltz. For those unaware of the background, the Maginot Line was a set of concrete fortifications built by France in the 1920s as a defence against a repeat of the German invasions of WW1, though Ralph actually sets his song as being at the start of WW1 – poetic licence, I think. History tells us that the German army simply went round the defences by invading Belgium instead, and making their way across France from there. Many British soldiers, and those of other countries, would have felt the same emotions as the protagonist in the song.
Once the newly recruited soldiers arrived on the battlefield, the horrors of war became immediately apparent. This next song describes how this went for a group who joined up for WW1. They were known colloquially as the Accrington Pals, which is one of the best remembered of the battalions raised in the early months of the First World War in response to Field Marshal Lord Kitchener’s call for a volunteer army. Groups of friends from all walks of life in Accrington and its neighbouring Lancashire towns enlisted together, to form a battalion with a distinctively local identity. They went through a range of training at various UK locations until they first saw active service, in which they suffered devastating losses in the attack on Serre on 1st July 1916, the opening day of the Battle of the Somme. The losses were hard to bear in a community where nearly everyone had a relative or friend who had been killed or wounded. Other battalions of ‘Pals’ were recruited in similar fashion, with their deep local identities. The wonderful Mike Harding tells the Accrington story:
This wasn’t just a British thing. Another story of WW1 was told from an Australian perspective, this time focussing on how it felt to be a disabled survivor of battle. This is Eric Bogle at his very best:
Sadly, people like the one described in that song are often left to endure a lonely existence, ignored by society and questioning ‘why me?’ I grew up in the aftermath of WW2 – I was born eight years after it ended – and there were a few like that in my town to give us a constant reminder.
Taking a slight deviation from music, the horrors of war – again from a WW1 setting – have never been better displayed than in the final scene of the Blackadder TV show. It was a comedy, and there are elements of that in this clip, but for me they just make it even more poignant:
After the war is over there is the beginning of the desire to pay the country’s respects to those who fought. Remembrance Sunday is our way of doing that in the UK, marking Armistice Day at the end of WW1, when the guns were to fall silent after peace had been agreed, this taking place at the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month: 11am on the 11th of November 1918. One of the most significant reminders is the Unknown Warrior, an unidentified member of the UK forces who died on the western front during WW1. He was interred in a grave at Westminster Abbey after being given a state funeral on 11 November 1920, simultaneously with a similar interment of a French unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in France. The British soldier had been chosen from those originally interred in France and was brought back to England for the ceremonial burial. I shared last year the song by Ralph McTell about this, and I think it is worth a reprise.
It was first released on an EP in 2014, to commemorate the centenary of the start of WW1, and this accompanying video features narration by Sir Billy Connolly, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Liam Neeson. It was re-released in 2022: as Ralph says in the postscript, it is a bit of an epic, but it tells a story that may not be well known now after the passing of 104 years. All proceeds from sales of the record were donated to the Royal British Legion, the leading UK charity providing support for veterans. That story deserves to be remembered, and this is a fitting way to do it:
As is my usual custom I will be watching on TV on Sunday morning when the BBC does its usual excellent job of showing the ceremony at the Cenotaph in London, followed by the parade of veterans and current serving forces members, with ever dwindling numbers of participants from WW2. The most moving part of the event for me is always this, and I imagine it will evoke the usual feelings for me. This is from the 2011 ceremony, but it always does it for me:
That was, of course, Sir Edward Elgar’s Nimrod The Hunter from his Enigma Variations, still to me a beautiful tune which offers a perfect moment during which we can reflect.
Unfortunately, the human race fails to learn the lessons of history, as evidenced by current conflicts and, no doubt, those which are yet to come. War is pointless. Apart from arms manufacturers and tyrannies no one ever really wins and so many lose: their homes, their lands, and their lives. Sunday should be a lesson to us all never to forget that, and just maybe we could prevent some future waste of lives. You may say I’m a dreamer…
Take It Easy 
You’ve put together a very moving post here Clive, history, personal reflection and powerfully poignant music.
It is right and proper that we should have a Remembrance Event for sombre reflection and not a gaudy celebration.
Because in the aftermaths of Wars, there are no happy endings.
Thank you for your time and effort.
Roger
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Thank you, Roger, for your appreciation. I think we should never lose sight of the futility of war and its aftermath, and tomorrow’s ceremonies are an important reminder of that.
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They are indeed Clive.
One Lesson of History is that at the root of each conflict is a previous one, which in turn can lead back to another. Each seems to leave its own trail of unfinished business of Human intransigence.
The lesson never learnt.
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And it never will be, I’m afraid.
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Sadly I must agree with you Clive.
All we can each one of us in our own small ways is not be caught up in the visceral hates and intolerances.
And never give up on Hope.
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Wise words. If only politicians thought the same way.
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True, but I don’t give ‘The People’ a free ride. Often there are times when pressure from the grass roots has drawn the mainstream political system in.
In the Big Picture of the decades prior to WWI across Europe nationalistic pressure groups kept the pot boiling. Then there was the American Civil War.
Just a couple of examples where grass roots excesses add fuel.
We all need to be wary of our darker sides.
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A perfect tribute and history lesson….sadly the world has not learnt anything from all this sacrifice and war still rages on all over the world. That said we must never forget the sacrifices made. …I always find the Black Adder end scene so honest and telling…. More than anything else ever said or portrayed. The pointlessness of war. 💜
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Thank you, Willow. It won’t come as a surprise that I completely agree with you.
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Of course I knew that , heaven help us all. 💜
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Yes, the 11th of November is Veteran’s Day here, too. Being we are a military family (retired) it is always so important to honor and remember all those who have served, who are now serving, and those who have gave their life for their country.
That said, I hate that there has to be wars, past and present. As the lyric says, …’you may say I’m a dreamer’ .. and you’re not the only one… we pray for peace.
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I can understand why it is important for you and your family to remember the sacrifices that have been made. I have no military connection at all, but I still believe we should always give our thanks for that. Judging by the songs I played I think I’m not alone in wanting to keep those memories alive.
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God. Well, that’s cheered me up no end. Totally insane. A waste of lives on a global scale. Even the brilliant military tacticians must have squirmed in their comfy chairs when tallying up the numbers. Maybe. Ah well, for them, tomorrow is just another day.
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For once, I wasn’t aiming at cheering people up! I know the equivalent happens at different times elsewhere, but this is our weekend to remember.
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“We will remember them”
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Absolutely, as we should 👍
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I will also be watching on Sunday, Clive a very poignant post and tunes..I needed the Blackadder clip after listening to Waltzing Matilda…a tissue alert was needed…I hope you have a good weekend, Clive xx
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Thank you, Carol. They are moving clips, aren’t they, and tissues are appropriate. No doubt they will be on Sunday. You have a good weekend too xx
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Profound and poignant, Clive. As a patriotic sort myself, your words and musical selections have touched me greatly and leave me with a lump in my throat.
Gorgeous songs, all.
Brilliant Blackadder clip.
Few better than Elgar for occasions such as this.
The war to end all wars; if only. Peace & love, my friend. Peace & love. 🕊️ 🩶
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Thank you, Nancy, I’m pleased this touched you – anyone with a heart would feel the same, I think.
The tunes told their story so well, and that Blackadder clip is one of the great moments in TV here. On first watching that final episode it left us in stunned silence. And they don’t come much more traditionally English than Elgar.
Peace and love to you too.
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Our answer to Blackadder was Hogan’s Heroes … inane at best.
It doesn’t take much to get my patriotic juices flowing. I tear up at “Take me out to the ballgame!” 😊
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That was on here but I rarely watched it. The writing for Blackadder was superb, for all four series, and that one couldn’t compete with it!
Music has a habit of doing that, doesn’t it, especially when patriotism is involved.
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Definite, re music. It is our soul’s soundtrack.
Off to the vet. 🤞🏼
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Good luck 🤞
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A special day indeed Clive, good music you selected!
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Thank you Carol anne. I wanted to tell the story in songs, and those all do it so well.
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A poignant post. The final Black Adder was brilliant. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, I will be silent for 1 minute and say a prayer for peace as I have done since a child.
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Thank you, Darlene. I think we should all mark this day however we can, as it is so important to remember why we are here and are allowed to enjoy our freedoms.
It has been important to me since childhood too – growing up in Dover, which was still being rebuilt after all the bombs, was a constant reminder.
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