Thursday 12 November 2009

11-11-11 Remembrance Day - They Shall Not Grow Old





"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

























Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
























Sevenoaks
Today is Remembrance Day also known as Poppy Day or, as it was originally titled, Armistice Day.  Armistice Day was created after WWI as a specific reference to the day (and actually hour, 11:00 AM, November 11th) when the guns were laid down across the bloodied battlefields of the Western Front and the Great War finally ceased. After WWII the day evolved to become Remembrance Day  to include all those who were sacrificed in military conflict.


I found it curious that although the day is to remember  all wars and conflicts, the BBC "presenters" (broadcasters) all announced the story (a little paraphrased) as follows:


 "The top story of the day, is of course, Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of WWI where we remember all the brave men who died on the Western Front".


Although WWII is still the bloodiest war in history, it was WWI (always referred to as "The Great War" here) that forever and dramatically changed centuries old social and economic traditions and way of life. Of course, much has been written academically on the subject of the legacy of WWI but I think it can be seen in real everyday life in subtle, everyday ways.


Official parades and observances are held on "Remembrance Sunday," the second Sunday in November closest to the 11th, but many still hold personal memorials on the 11th hour of the 11th day of November.  I was asked to attend a private ceremony with one of our new friends , Pat, whom we met at our local pub. Her husband served in the Welsh  Brigade and was awarded several medals, which she wears proudly on this day.


The BBC broadcast ceremonies from Westminster Abbey and I was really drawn in as I watched the emotion of the proceedings. This year was especially poignant because of the death of five British soldiers in Afghanistan this past week and because this was the first Remembrance Day without a representative from WWI, the last three veterans having died earlier this year.


The Queen led the ceremonies with a biblical passage (and yes, Billy, she wore a well-cut, lavender suit with a matching hat, very appropriate for the occasion).  The Archbishop of Canterbury followed with a thoughtful and slightly provocative lecture on war and its effect on faith and the faithful. 


 The timing of speakers was impeccable, at the exact second of the end the official Remembrance Day poem (see above for the most famous verse), Big Ben struck eleven and two full minutes of silence were observed throughout the country. In Britain, for these two minutes, everything must stop, including trains and all traffic.  Historically it was enforced by law but it was concluded to be too expensive to support.   


The below is an excerpt of newspaper report of the first two minute silence and I thought it quite moving:


The First Two Minute Silence in London (11th November 1919) as reported in the Manchester Guardian, 12th November 1919.


'The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect.  The tram cars glided into stillness, motors ceased to cough and fume, and stopped dead, and the mighty-limbed dray horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition.  Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of 'attention'. An elderly woman, not far away, wiped her eyes, and the man beside her looked white and stern. Everyone stood very still ... The hush deepened. It had spread over the whole city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain ... And the spirit of memory brooded over it all.'





I found myself having a new appreciation of the magnitude and history behind the day. The BBC has  provided many insightful and accessible documentaries throughout the month.  Also, our new pub friends, most of them well into their 80's, not only have poignant family stories of WWI but also lived in the thick of WWII and have incredible stories of life during the war.



One of our friends related his boyhood experience of  living in London during the German Blitz:


"They came every night, every single night, it just never stopped (unless it was very bad weather"). "People got use to it".  "You would go out the next morning and walk into shop and there would be 20 dead bodies lying about". My father was an Oxford man but all I wanted to do when I came of age was to join the forces".


He did join the Royal Air Force and spent 26 years, achieving a Senior Captain rank. When Winston Churchill died, he was one of the watchmen who guarded his casket during its time of laying in state.


(By the way, these types of discussions are a frequent topic all the time, not just during Remembrance Day).


Having been in NYC on 9/11 (and having just missed being in the World Trade Center) I have a certain sympathy for the strained experience of living in a virtual war zone and amazed that they lived in it for years.


Another interesting aspect of Remembrance Day is the poppy badge. Like in the US, it is tradition to wear a poppy during the month of November.  However, I don't recall ever hearing heated discussions about proper poppy wearing like I have heard here. Poppy wearing was a featured topic in every BBC morning show. 


A popular call-in TV talk show that prides itself on its provocative subjects (think early Phil Donahue) devoted an entire segment to raging debate about the poor poppy. People were phoning and texting from all over Britain complaining about it being worn too early, on the wrong side, with the leaf pointing in the wrong directions  arguing about what was proper and why etc, etc.  I didn't even remember it having a leaf.


Incidentally, Scottish poppies, botanically, have four petals and no leaves therefore the Scottish are relieved of the pressure to make sure it is in proper position.  Ideas of sewing a leaf on the poppies were suggested, but it in true Scottish fashion, it was deemed too expensive. 


FYI, from what I could gather, proper poppy protocol is: men, over the left, on the heart, women over the right, which is where she would place her husbands medals. The stem ALWAYS points to 11:00.


For anyone interested, the following is the actual history of the poppy emblem.


poppy-field.jpg












" In World War One the Western Front contained in the soil thousands of poppy seeds, all lying dormant. They would have lain there for years more, but the battles being fought there churned up the soil so much that the poppies bloomed like never before. The most famous bloom of poppies in the war was in Ypres, a town in Flanders, Belgium, which was crucial to the Allied defence. There were three battles there, but it was the second, which was calamitous to the allies since it heralded the first use of the new chlorine gas the Germans were experimenting with, which brought forth the poppies in greatest abundance, and inspired the Canadian soldier, Major John McCrae, to write his most famous poem. This, in turn, inspired the British Legion to adopt the poppy as their emblem."

In Flanders Fields



In Flanders fields the poppies blow 
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 



John McCrae (1872 - 1918)































































































Friday 6 November 2009

Pulled Into the Docks in Southhampton- Ballad of Roberta & Michael (and Auggie)






















Journey to the Isle of Wight


In case some of you don't get the title, it is a clever reference to " The Ballad of John and Yoko", of which the first line goes, "Pulled into the docks of Southampton". I know this because Michael kept singing it over and over (it was the only line he knew) as we were, in fact, pulling into the docks in Southampton to catch the ferry to the beautiful Isle of Wight.


It was a gorgeous late October day as we motored though the south of England on our way to Southampton. Autumnal foliage framed our route of "A" roads (two lanes) in full fall glory, with trees and hedges awash in blazes of deep golds, candy apple reds and firey oranges brilliantly highlighted with sprinkles of verdant greens from leaves that had yet to turn.


Our new GPS carefully guided us on a route that took us through centuries of English towns, rich in history and architecture. We passed through the heart Warminster, Bristol, Bath and Salisbury (and no John Foote, unfortunately we didn't have a bath in Bath or a steak in Salisbury).


The GPS (affectionately referred to as "Sat -Nav") has been a godsend in many ways. In addition to effortlessly guiding our clueless selves through the British countryside, it seems to have replaced the hole that was left in Michael's life when we had to make the gut wrenching decision to leave the cappuccino maker in Chicago. He doesn't talk a lot about it but I can tell there is a quiet sadness to him in the morning when he looks longingly at the empty counter tops. I realize that deep-rooted relationships like these are hard to replace. However, the GPS has proven to be a happy substitute and has put a spring back in his step.


I know this because he talks about it incessantly. He is in the throes of deep infatuation, utterly mezmorized by its design and enthusiastically ( and constantly) offers copious amount of insightful discussion on the wonder of its various features and capabilities. In fact, during the four hour ride to Southampton it featured in about 70% of our discussion. Every topic, seemed, somehow, to come back to the GPS


For example:


Me - "I wonder how large the Isle of Wight is?"
Michael - "Sat-Nav can calculate any dimensions based on mileage points!"


Me - " Did the Isle of Wight have a native tongue before it was annexed to  Great Britian"
"Michael - " Sat-Nav is actually programmable in 16 different languages!"


Me - " Do you think monkeys could actually fly out of my ass?"
Michael - " I think Sat-Nav can track flight patterns."


After 50 minutes of a most civilized ride on the ferry (it even has a special pet reception room where travel-weary animals can relax with a cold bowl of water, and if they are lucky, a beef jerky treat) we crossed the Solent Channel and arrived at Cowes, Isle of Wight.


The island is 140 sq miles and has a population of 144,000. It was the home of Alfred Lord Tennyson and served as the summer and final home of Queen Victoria. It was posh resort area for the Victorians, in fact, Charles Dickenson wrote the majority of David Copperfield during his holiday on the island.


Isle of Wight also has a rich industrial and maritime history including boat building, sail making, hovercrafts and space rockets. In 1970 the island hosted the "Isle of Wight Festival", one of the biggest rock music events ever. It is also one of the best dinosaur fossil locations in Europe.


The island is a virtual botanical garden place, filled with magnificent flora. We stayed at a lovely B&B that dates back to the early 18th century, longer than the US has been an official nation. Auggie and I spent several happy hours walking the many footpaths through the woods and along the coast line.


As a bonus, we found a pub that allows dogs (all hours) about 100 yards from our B&B. We happily settled into the "Horse and Groom" and made many friends, who were very interested in what the hell Americans were doing on the Isle of Wight, odder still, in late October. 


We had a great time and I will accompany Michael when he has to return. FYI, for anyone who is curious, the rest of the first verse is as follows below.  I found it necessary to look it up (although I didn't bother with the rest) so he would stop singing the same line over and over.  Thankfully, our experience was significantly better than John and Yoko's. 


First verse 
     Pulled into the docks of Southampton
     Trying to get to Holland or France
     The man in mac said you have to back
     Man, they didn't even give us chance
      
Refrain
      Christ you know it ain't easy
      It's as hard as can be
      The way things are going
      They're going to crucify me


EnglandIsleWight.png





Thursday 5 November 2009

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

You know me, any reason to have a party! Today is also known as Bonfire Night and enormous bonfires are lit all over the country and after a few pints the bonfires are not the only things "lit up"

The story goes as follows:

Guy FawkesGuy Fawkes was tortured and later hanged for trying to blow up the British Parliament the day it was slated to open, November 5, 1605.On November 5, 1605, England held a celebration for the opening of Parliament. Guy Fawkes tried to spark a revolution by blowing up the building – and the royal family along with it.

The plot was foiled when one of Fawkes's co-conspirators sent a letter to a friend telling the friend to stay away from Parliament that night. The letter was intercepted and Fawkes was found in the basement of Parliament getting ready to light the fuse on several dozen barrels of gunpowder.

He was tortured for a list of his co-conspirators, and was hanged in January of 1606.

Fawkes was born a Protestant but converted to Catholicism at a time when Catholics were persecuted in England. He hoped to incite the country to revolution in an attempt to gain equal (or better) recognition for Catholics