Remembrance Day 2018

The 11th of November is Remembrance Day in the UK, which is very much like Memorial Day in the US. This year was extra special, as it was the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

There were special events all over the country, including the lighting of 10,000 torches at the Tower of London. This website shows just how many events there were to choose from.

Our school had a special  World War One assembly on Friday, and all year groups participated. The entire hall was decorated, as was the outside.

The children in the different classes read poems and performed songs. The mood was very solemn, and I was impressed with the behavior of even the youngest kids.

Miles had written a poem in class, and had received a commendation for it, but it had been read at an earlier assembly.

On Remembrance Sunday, Lily and I went to a local church that had an open exhibition going. Many of the kids from the school had decorated jam jars for this display, and Lily wanted to see if she could find ours.

The church was floodlit just for the weekend (although the exhibition will go on for a few months).

The jam jars were spread around the church. There were 879, one for each name on our town cenotaph (each name of those who died in WWI; there are an additional 314 names of those who died in WWII). Each jar had a name tag on it.

It's one thing to read that 879 people died 100 years ago, but seeing a symbol set out for each life really brings the message home.

This location was also involved in the There But Not There installation. Transparent figures of soldiers were placed in church pews across the nation, signifying those whose lives were lost in each parish.

This next piece of art included pictures of nurses and soldiers.

The last little area had pictures of fifteen local soldiers who lost their lives in the war. There was a case that held a few scraps of letters they had written, as well as a "Dead Man's Penny."  There was also a large framed display of the poem In Flanders Fields.

Since staff had talked about all of this at school, Lily knew that it was a very solemn event. I was very impressed with her behavior.

We did find Miles' and Lily's jam jars, but weren't able to spot Clara's. There were just so many.

Lily's is on the far right, very similar to her brother's

Miles' jar in the center. He wanted it to look like a close up of poppies

The part that affected me most was seeing the soldiers' letters and knowing that they didn't make it back to their loved ones. It was a very moving exhibition, and I'm so glad I made it a priority to go.