Lest We Forget To Remember...

Boys Led To Slaughter

by Jonathan Whitehead

Your Country Needs You!

My Country Needs Me!

She Needs You Too.

Over by Christmas, you'll see.

Thousands sign up,

To fight a war,

To close up shop,

To stop the enemy roar.

Bullets whistle by.

Thud goes the artillery.

Grown men cry.

Women become the auxiliary.

Wonders were seized,

Battles ensued.

Mounted deceased,

Politicians confused

Peace was called.

They were only boys.

The enemy stalled.

Puppeteered like toys.

100 years on,

We stare at broken battlefields

We're yet to move on

Where poppies fill the fields

Utter devastation. Unimaginable horror. Unthinkable suffering. Words that can be attributed to what unfolded during the Great War between 1914 and 1918. That fateful afternoon in late June 1914 in Sarajevo, whereupon a spark was struck so loud and right at the heart of the Austrian monarchy, that the repercussions were felt throughout Europe. The domino effect of international diplomacy was in full effect. Germany sided with Austria; Russia allied itself to Serbia, whilst Britain and France gave their military and diplomatic assistance to Belgium. Those few shots fired on the 28th June 1914 by Gavrilo Princip, of the Black Hand Gang, at the Archduke and his wife, would unravel into the bloodiest war the world had seen until then. It would change the course of history, cut short the lives of millions, and throw Europe into a state of disarray and destruction. Advanced weaponry and chemical warfare became lethal reactions to evolve trench warfare into a constant state of fear. Muddy and soggy ground underfoot hindered any real progress across no man's land. The dead on both sides mounted up in a manner never before seen on the field of conflict. It showed the brutality of war, the unimaginable horrors incurred by one man's inventions having a showdown against another man's inventions. Battles such as the Somme, Passchendaele, Gallipoli and Verdun are only a handful that changed the course of the war. 8.5 million soldiers perished on the battlefields for a war fought in distant lands over divided political ideologies. A war fought by young and old, rich and poor: a Total War. Civilians were caught in the crossfire, soldiers were killed on foreign soil defending their homeland - this war was the first to pull at the heart strings, the first to evoke a sense of the unthinkable. 

Now we have reached the centenary anniversary of this 'Great War' commencing, we look back as a modern generation on the First World War in a way that ensures we have some level of attachment to the horrors and sacrifices that millions of men and women made for their countries. Memory plays a significant role in ensuring we have this level of attachment, it allows us to try and put this global conflict into as much context and perspective as we can possibly get. The poetry, the letters sent home, the unknown soldiers - all these contribute to our ability to gain a level of understanding as to what it may have been like on the front line and at the home front during war time. Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon are two of the most well known war time poets.

                    'Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling,   

                    Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;     

                    But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, 

                    And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... 

                    Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,  

                    As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.  

                    In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,      

                    He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. 

                    Wilfred Owen, Dulce Et Decorum Est    

  

                              In winter trenches, cowed and glum,

                              With crumps and lice and lack of rum,

                              He put a bullet through his brain.

                              No one spoke of him again.

                              You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye

                              Who cheer when soldier lads march by,

                              Sneak home and pray you'll never know

                              The hell where youth and laughter go.

                             Siegfried Sassoon, Suicide In The Trenches

These writings gave the general public a better idea as to what life was really like on the front line. It blew any preconceived ideas that they had on life on the Western Front out of the water. It showed people the everyday struggle and the fear dealt with by soldiers on a day to day basis. Writings like these also proved how much these soldiers were giving up to fight for their countries, how they had to cope with countless horrific and unimaginable scenes unfold right in front of their very own eyes, and also how much it affected them as individuals. Reading text such as these enabled people at home to look on the conflict, not only from another perspective, but from the eyes of the men painfully living out these experiences and recalling them. All of this shows how important the memory of the individual is in regards to themselves, and on a grander scale, the general public both of early 20th Century right up to modern day, coming to terms with a conflict as vast, extreme and devastating as was the First World War. It gives us that connection we look for when studying the Great War between the reader and the protagonist or author.

Memory is something we hold dear to us. Whether it is of something we have a special connection to, or whether it is in regards to an individual you have strong feelings for, we all inherently crave that connection to our past and our future. Memory should not only be limited to experiences we have had as individuals, but as an overall community, whether that be past, present or future. For we are all one global community, therefore global wars of the not-so-distant past still have an impact on us all. The sacrifices made by individuals who came together as a unit to defend what they called home. They put their lives on the line so that we could one day live in a world free of war, free of terrorism, free of the constraints of life. The least we can do is pay our respects to them in whichever way we see fit - lighting a candle in homage to those who lost their lives, wearing a poppy to symbolize your attachment and appreciation of their sacrifice, or taking a moment out of your busy lives to say a prayer for those who were taken from this world too soon. Whichever way you find to respect those who have fought, or are still fighting for the freedom you take for granted, what matters is that you are paying your respects. That is the least they deserve. We will remember all those who have fallen in wars past and present. We will never forget.

Jonathan Whitehead