Lest We Forget

Today as we remember those who sacrificed themselves in service to Empire and in response to the commands of their Kings and countries. We must also remember that ALL the men and women who participated in WWI were "Victorians" and those who served in WWII were mostly "Edwardians".
These two titanic conflicts changed the worlds of these people in unimaginable ways. Neither the Victorians or the Edwardians, as we tend to study and re-create them, remained when the smoke and dust settled.

Not only did hundreds of thousands of them die, but the very cultural structures in which they had grown up were swept away.

In 1914 a farmer in Western Canada, a fisherman on the coasts, a labourer in the factories of Eastern Canada, or a miner in the far north, went when their King called because that was what one did.
102 years ago when the guns fell silent at 11:00 AM on November 11th they did not know that everything had changed forever, but they hoped that at least war was done with.

Alas their children found that was not true.

There are none alive now who remember the world of WWI and few indeed that remember WWII.
We owe it to them that we remember, we also owe their World, the Victorian and Edwardian World we celebrate, that it not be forgotten either.

Lest we forget.
God Save the Queen!

Photo by Neil Zeller