We Will Remember Them: Remembrance in 2023
Every year in November we see news presenters, public figures and the public don a red poppy, signalling a period of remembrance. This poppy-wearing tradition is more than a century old – so why is it still honoured today?
Remembrance Day takes place on the Sunday closest to the 11th of November every year (this year it is on the 12th of November). It is held in commemoration of the Armistice truce reached on the same date in 1918, signalling the end to what most historians agree was one of the bloodiest conflicts in recorded history – World War I. As this conflict was so horrifying, as well as the Second World War which involved almost every part of the globe from Britain to China and the Soviet Union to name a few, it is easy to see the scale of loss and devastation war causes, with Britannica estimating that there were between 35,000,000-60,000,000 total deaths during World War II, including innocent civilian lives. Whilst the poppy has evolved over the years, it remains a symbol for the huge loss of life in this conflict, as poppies grew in the disturbed soil in the battlefields after the war, and a way to give thought to all the people who have died in or have been affected by different wars and conflicts across the world, right up to present day.
There seems to have been a move, certainly in recent years, to highlight the inclusivity of remembrance without eulogising war or under-representing the many different countries who participate, with The British Legion stating that “remembrance does not glorify war” and that it aims to “unite people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds”. It was the case in the past, and some argue still today, that when remembering World Wars I and II in particular; white, male and British soldiers fighting on the western front in France and Belgium were overrepresented and dominated the narrative in the media and in education. Efforts in the past few years to diversify this view and cultivate a more multi-dimensional, developed understanding of these conflicts will hopefully continue, such as moves to decolonise the curriculum and the telling of wartime stories of those previously forgotten or neglected in remembrance.
Josh Losh put forward in his essay ‘Britain’s Abandoned Black Soldiers’ that in World War II, “Britain paid its soldiers not only according to their rank and length of service but also their ethnicity”, and it is information such as this which should be remembered, moving away from a narrative that erases certain groups of people from history and embracing the raw facts of war and the hard experiences of every individual. Learning about personal stories from individuals, such as Hélène Podliasky, who led a resistance of nine women to escape a Nazi death march in 1945, are just as important as the broader picture, with 2.6 million Indian troops fighting in World War II. Teaching, talking and learning about diverse and widespread conflicts, such as this one, and its impact on people that are still alive today, is not only essential in understanding the importance of remembrance in 2023, but also for its continuation.
Remembrance also exists as a way for people nowadays to learn from humanity’s biggest devastations and not let these horrors happen again. However, today there are still many conflicts going on all around the world and causing mass desolation. The one that is dominating social media right now is the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in which over ten thousand civilians in the Gaza strip have been and are being brutally killed, including children. People doing what they can to stop and prevent horrors like this from happening is so important, and not letting history keep on repeating itself time and time again is crucial in the act of remembrance.
Every year on the 11th of November at 11am, cannons are fired, trumpets are played, and a two-minute silence commences. Whilst for some people doing this would be almost impossible, especially in lines of work such as urgent care, these two-minutes are there to allow people to have a quiet moment of reflection and a moment to remember the sacrifices made by so many, and the suffering endured by millions.
