I have no objection to people remembering the fallen in various conflicts over the years, although my view is that this should be done in a more concrete form by the government taking better financial care of the maimed survivors and their families rather than making them dependent on a charity.

But I see no good reason for some New Ferry local to take it upon himself to mark the beginning and end of the two minute silence with a thunderous detonation. We all have access to accurate time, but not only is it uneccessary, it is the last thing anyone who has experienced shelling wants to hear. Many more disagree with the whole tasteful remembrance ceremony business and see it as a thinly disguised attempt by politicians and the military to recruit more cannon-fodder.

I won't go as far as hoping this local enthusiast blows himself up, but I hope he will realise that it is considered neither necessary nor desirable by many of us.

It is worth remembering that the glorious dead cannot speak up and make their views felt, and the glorious maimed, blinded and damaged ones are never allowed to express their views.

Good morning Excoriator, surely no one minds in which ever way we wish to pay our respects for 2 minutes each year, we endure weeks of fireworks to celebrate Guy Fawkes, I attend the Cenotaph on Magazine promanade and they fire the maroons which are quite loud, yet I have never heard of any complaints, most of us are very aware of the cost personally of war both to the living and the dead.

So remember every November
When we hold our remberance day'
Of the lads who lie neath the poppies
And the price they had to pay

Lest we forget

Well said Caspar, how anybody can complain about this is beyond me. 2 minutes to remember and reflect on those that gave their tomorrows for our today's is not much to ask. Not so many years ago we had the 1 o'clock gun go off every day people would set their clocks by it.

Think I got those well known words wrong very sorry. I meant too say they gave their today's for our tomorrow's. Think people knew what I meant.

Thanks cools the sentiment was well meant which ever order it was put in.

I think you can use remembrance day in different ways. Took my late father to normandy beaches as he was a normandy veteran. Well worth a tour and the peace museum in caen. The last few times ive done hamilton square or magazine lane its been a mixture of respectfully remembering the dead and wounded mixed with anger at certain politicians taking us into unnecessary conflict.
My dad always commentted and said there is nothing glorious about our dead

I think glorious is the wrong word that is still being used, dead is dead and there in nothing glorious in death, the sadness is of whole families decimated, communities destroyed and a generation gone, a war to end all wars they said,and we never learnt, life is cheap to politicians, even more so now, not many ex forces amongst them, the majority of them Know little of ordinary folks lives day to day, and know even less about military matters, my old mum was dead against the forces having lost brothers in the war' she hated the thought of me joining, you could be killed for what she always said, and now as I look at my kids and grandkids, I think the same, she was right.

You were right first time Cools, The full version is the words from the Kohima Memorial. "When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we gave our today" very true words

I now know what it's like to have a son go off to war an illegal one at that.I was on that big demo hoping it wasn't going to happen but it did,the feelings,stomach in knots watching the fighting on the news.he came back others didn't & he had to go out again the following year so at the 2 minutes silence I stop what I'm doing & think of the ones who never made it home.

Such a sad day today, just listening to some of the farewell letters that have to be written if the worst happens. Heartbreaking. It must have been torture for you Star so glad he came home as you say many didn't. War hate it!

Feel for you Star. Few years back a classmate of my son was killed in Afghanistan aged about 21. What angered me more was that the School encouraged the "less bright" pupils to go and do the army assault courses and get fed the "great life in the army stuff"
Am sure the army life can help some people with discipline and a trade but it didn't help that poor lad.

My son had to write a letter in case anything happened to him & he had to put his possessions in a locked box to be sent home,along with the letter,never had to read it though.

My son was in the Royal Engineers,he got a trade as an electrician.still had to do all the regular army training.He got a job as an electrician when he came out then got a teaching degree.he's now teaching electrics to students so he didn't do too bad out of the army