Today is 11th November and the 95th anniversary of Armistice Day. Online Features Editor Meg Lawrence chats to former soldier Peter Williams from the British Legion about why Remembrance Day is still as relevant and important as it ever was.
War is a devastating thing and people should wear their poppy with pride to remember those who have died and those who have survived warfare, a former soldier has said.
Peter Williams is the press officer for the Devon branch of the British Legion and he believes that anyone who claims Remembrance Day in any way glorifies war, is wrong.
“I’m an ex-soldier,” explains Williams , “and I’ve seen what the effects of war are.
Image Credits: Meg Lawrence
“‘War is the most disgusting, horrible, devastating thing that you can possibly think of, and no soldier, sailor or airman glorifies it, and certainly not those who’ve been through it.”
Instead, Peter believes people should wear their poppy with pride and take the time to remember those who gave their lives fighting for the freedom we all too often take for granted.
“People need to sit back and think to themselves very, very seriously about the fact that they are living in a world today which is relatively peaceful. They are not going to be called up to defend the country. And they must say to themselves if it wasn’t for what my grandfather and my father and great grandfather did… whether it be digging coal in the mines during the war or fighting on the seas or fighting on land, if it hadn’t been for what they did, we wouldn’t be where we are now. We wouldn’t have the relatively easy life that we have today.”
And that relatively easy life should not embrace the wearing of a white poppy – worn by those who feel it is more symbolic of peace, Williams argues.
“The white poppy is nonsense,” he explains. “If the white poppy is supposed to symbolise peace, then by definition the red poppy is supposed to define warfare, violence. The red poppy does not do that. It is not a war-faring, glorifying emblem.
“It is peace, because after the battles in the Western front in the First World War, what grew from the devastation were poppies. Those who wear the white poppies, they don’t understand properly, they haven’t thought properly, and they’re just in a lot of instances being anti the system, the establishment and society.”
The red poppy appeal is a crucial part of the Royal British Legion’s work and Peter Williams believes the charity would not survive without it.
“The Royal British Legion can’t survive if people don’t, once a year, wear the poppy and remind themselves that these people have done a lot for us, and we need to look after them.”
And wearing a poppy and respecting Remembrance Day is the least people can do to remember the million or so soldiers who died fighting for freedom, Williams adds.
When asked just how we can preserve the memory of those who gave their lives, Williams wells up. His reply is simple, but heartfelt: “By remembering.”
“Virtually a million soldiers, sailors and airmen from the United Kingdom were killed during the First World War, it was a devastating loss of men, and people thought that that was the war to end all wars. It was the Great War as they called it, and unfortunately it didn’t end all wars, it went on through the Second World War and then in other conflicts since. It’s my way of believing that we are perpetuating the memory of those who gave their lives in the pursuit of peace.”
Meg Lawrence, Online Features Editor
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