We will remember them

One of the most important things I do in my job is attend commemorations. My team at the embassy – and colleagues from other British missions in Belgium – attend more than 80 ceremonies a year. This is something we don’t just do in November. But as the anniversary of Armistice Day approaches, it is natural that all of us should make a special effort to remember those who sacrifice life and limb to defend our freedom. And to remember also their families, who often carry the burden of that sacrifice for longest.

The efforts people make in Belgium to honour the war dead of Britain and other nations are extraordinary. I was at the dedication of a memorial in Saint-Hubert recently where a team of local historians had traced all the surviving relatives of a British and Canadian air crew who had died in a crash nearly 70 years earlier. The families came for the dedication. For most of them it was the first time they had been to Belgium. They were deeply grateful.   

In a recent speech about World War One anniversaries, Britain’s prime minister David Cameron thanked the Last Post Association, whose volunteers have played the traditional final salute to the fallen by bugle every night at the Menin Gate in Ypres since 1928.

Cameron also highlighted the British nurse Edith Cavell (above) and the Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing. Tyne Cot is the largest British war cemetery in the world, visited by nearly half a million people every year, including many children. 

There are a huge number of individuals and organisations, Belgian, British and others, who honour our war dead and support our veterans. People like the members of the Royal British Legion, who volunteer to sell poppies every year. We owe all of them a debt of gratitude.

This week we hosted the annual veterans’ reception with the British School of Brussels. There were tears in some eyes as the school choir sang Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again.

We need to pass on the torch of remembrance to younger generations (I still count myself in that category!) so they continue to recognise that the liberties and prosperity we enjoy today were created by past sacrifices.

I was in Marcinelles recently with the French and the German ambassadors for a joint commemoration, with the minister-president of Wallonia. The most important thing was the presence of schoolchildren from all three countries who read letters from those who died in the trenches. 

This Sunday, November 11, I will again join the French and German ambassadors for a wreath-laying ceremony at our respective cemeteries around Ypres. The Europe we have today, with a democratic Germany which is our close friend and ally, is a very different continent. We should celebrate that.

We also remember the sacrifices of the present. Europe may be at peace, but our freedoms are being defended at a heavy price elsewhere, as we see from the young men and women who are losing their lives in Afghanistan.

The message of Armistice Day is not an easy or a comforting one. But I try not to write this too mournfully. People do not give their lives in battle so that the rest of us should always be sad. There are many things we can learn from the military, and a respectful cheerfulness is one of them.

Finally, let me quote the commitment made by the British prime minister during his speech at the Imperial War Museum last month:

“Our duty with these commemorations is clear. 

To honour those who served. 

To remember those who died. 

And to ensure that the lessons learnt live with us forever. 

And that is exactly what we will do.”