What Does Remembrance Sunday Mean To You?

Published on: 9 Nov, 2013
Updated on: 11 Nov, 2013

The Guildford Dragon asked a range of people what Remembrance Sunday and November 11th means to them.

This is what they said:

Anne Milton

Anne Milton

MP for Guildford

I find the time around Remembrance Sunday extremely moving. My childhood was spent hearing my parents’ stories of the WW2, as both served. It was a life changing experience for them and for so many others. For me now it’s about remembering the outstanding sacrifice so many people have made and continue to make. War takes on terrible toll on people’s lives.

But I also remember my parents, the friends they had that died and the few that are still alive today. Both my parents served in World War 2. Mother was a land girl for a while and also in the Women’s Auxilllary Air Force, but was in London during the Blitz as her brother was unwell. My father was reservist in the Honourable Artillery Company and joined up before the outbreak of the war, however he spent five years in India.

Stephen Mansbridge

Stephen Mansbridge

Borough Council Leader

Each year I remember the many faces of those comrades that I have known who are no longer around. Each year this number grows.

Most vividly I remember a Lance Corporal who was killed by a land mine hidden in a copse in Northern Ireland. I arrived about 15 minutes after it happened and there was an intense aroma of pine, which I can smell as if it was today. He had got married just before the tour of duty. He died, as they all have, so that we continue to be free.

John Morris.

John Morris

Peace Party Candidate

Remembrance means remembering all who have died and been wounded, mentally as well as physically, in war. I hold them in my heart for ever.

Combatants and civilians have their lives cut short due to government incompetence; those involved do not “make the ultimate sacrifice”; they were sacrificed by governments for their own purposes and not for the good of humanity.

Remembrance now means working steadfastly for peaceful co-existence and non-violent conflict resolution. We can then forget the past and make remembrance an anachronism.

Robert Cotton

Canon Robert Cotton

Rector of Holy Trinity and St Mary’s

On Remembrance Sunday I always need to hear those marvellous words from the prophet Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks”.

Weapons of war may exist, but they need to be transformed into tools for a richer harvest. The motivations for war such as anger and fear can be changed into a commitment to positive action.

When we merely defend our own territory, as a nation or as individuals, we can become isolated and depressed. Generous hospitality is much more likely to help us make friends and influence people.

David Elms.

David Elms

The Deputy Mayor of Guildford

They gave their lives, we can give an hour of ours.

When David is mayor next year, his chosen charity will be the Army Benevolent Fund

Ian Nicholls

Creator of the Charlotteville War memorial website

It makes me think of all the local lads from the Charlotteville area of Guildford who went to fight in the First World War and who never came back – not just on the Western Front, but all the other places where the war was fought.

John Redpath

John Redpath

Chairman of the Charlotteville Jubilee Trust and the Spike Community Centre

My grandfather died in World War I. His death had an enormous effect on my grandmother. She actually married his brother afterwards. My grandfather’s possession were sent back home to his family. I have them now. They include intertwined locks of their hair. The artefacts are incredibly moving. These items really bring it all home to me, and what’s more it’s only a generation away.

What does Remembrance Sunday and November 11th mean to you? Please use the ‘Leave a Reply’ feature below to have your say.