The Fallen, In Remembrance

We Will Never Forget


The world has just fallen silent to mark the centenary of Armistice. One hundred years has passed since World War 1. As always during the two minute silence that I always, always observe my mind bounces between prayer, reflection and gratitude, my eyes like diamonds holding tears that were I to give in to the sorrow that shrouds my soul on such occasions, I would have great difficulty in recovering. And this is coming from someone who has never set foot on a battlefield during times of war. I cannot even begin to try and imagine what veterans are feeling on Armistice day, so I wont pretend to try.

The world owes a debt to soldiers that can never be adequately repaid. The gratitude ought to hang from our every breath. Our freedoms earned by the blood and souls of those we call heroes, and are indeed heroes, even when the word is still not grand enough. We thank you, I thank you, a million times thank you. Not enough I know, you deserve much much more.


a short addendum
I wasn't going to do this but sadness gave way to anger and the article pulled me back. The thing that makes me most sad (and im not alone in this of course) is the fact that we expect the courageous to fight for us, to give the ultimate sacrifice and die for us, but we never learn and whether it is twenty years or two hundred years, our species are quick to war. We never tire of it. We pat ourselves on the back and throw around words like "civilised" but don't believe a word of it. Individually we might be but humans on the whole are just as savage as the first of our kind were when they walked the earth.
We can pretend otherwise but war is in our blood. To be man is to be with the sword and furies.

from "The Green Fields of France

Well the sorrow the suffering the glory the pain
The killing the dying was all done in vain
For young Willy Mc Bride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Hall of Heroes

We live in a world where celebrity is king, where success is judged by the amount of followers you have on social media. Actors, singers, athletes alike, everyone wants a piece of their of their favourite hero. But no matter how much records you sell, Oscar winning films you make, classic novels you write, medals you win there will always be a quiet hero from WW2 who outshines them all like .

Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown is one such man. He sadly passed away recently after reaching the grand age 97 (as it should be, heroes should live long). Captain Brown has an achievement that truly can be called awesome.
2,407 deck landings at sea and 2,721 catapult launches. He flew every major combat aircraft of WW2 including gliders, fighters, bombers, airliners, amphibians, flying boats and helicopters,. nd his contribution to aviation research covered transonic flight, assessment of German jets and rocket aircraft, rotary wing flight, and the first carrier decklanding of a jet aircraft.

Now if that doesn't impress you, nothing will.

Welshman and the Great Escape

Brave: Great Escape

We have all seen the movie, The Great Escape, and cheered on Steve McQueen's character Hilts as he attempts to sail over barbed wire on a motorbike at the end (though that bit was Hollywood fiction). Certainly I was not alone in feeling a wave of claustrophobia wash over me during the tunnel scenes, as these courageous prisoners of war tunnelled their way to freedom? And who could forget the Gestapo gunning down 50 of the escapees after being told to get out of the truck to "stretch their legs" while on their way back to camp (or so they thought)?
The Great Escape has many memorable scenes and though not all based on fact, helped make it a classic. (It is easily one of Mr Jakes' favourite films). Of course the main story IS very much true and took place 70 years ago on this very day. Of those who broke out, only three reached safety, 73 were recaptured, and 50 shot. Such heroic souls! No finer example of fire in the human spirit, and may they all rest in peace.
In the photograph above, the reader can see Cyncoed~born Brian Evans (left) a Welshman who was part of this historic escape. Sadly Mr Evans was one of those men murdered by Gestapo but it fills me with pride that one of my countrymen is a figure in this glorious tapestry.

Nationalities of the 50 executed prisoners

21 British
6 Canadian
6 Polish
5 Australian
3 South African
2 New Zealanders
2 Norwegian
1 Belgian
1 Czechoslovak
1 Frenchman
1 Greek
1 Lithuanian