To think there are a lot of people out there who have no grasp of WW2 history

The level of general ignorance and disinterest about Britain's recent history, specifically Northern Ireland, is shocking and has been highlighted by Brexit and the border discussions.

The British education board should hang it's head in shame, There is no excuse not have have a reasonable grasp of the past 100 years.

When i was young, i had my grandparents who had direct experience of ww2.

There arent many people left alive from ww2 so collective memory fades.

A child today is unlikely to know anyone who experienced it

In the context of the time, it's a fairly safe assumption that those who fought for Britain. Where fighting to maintain Britain as it was in those time. Predominantly white Christian.

They went to fought to liberate countries to give those people their territory back and to protect our own country from invasion.

You only have to look at the opposition to immigration in the post war period to realise how many people viewed "foreigners".

It doesn't really serve any good purpose to rant on about who they weren't fighting for, this or that.
But reality is those who say they were fighting for the country to be "full" of foreigners are probably correct.

Totally agree OP, and it worries me that in the not too distant future we'll have nobody left who remembers what it was like to live through the war.

it’s part of history, rather than a real event. They don’t have grandparents that lived it.

Yeah. My parents were born at the end of WW2, and my grandparents were all dead when I was very young. It may be history but generationally its one or two. As a world the lessons of the past are being ignored and it's only a matter of time before someone chances their arm. This time nuclear weapons will surely feature too. IMO, everybody should visit Auschwitz and stand in a gas chamber.

Well, as much as WWII gives us important lessons, it is fading into history now. More and more time is passing, that generation is fading fast and for young people, it’s part of history, rather than a real event. They don’t have grandparents that lived it.

Totally agree OP, and it worries me that in the not too distant future we'll have nobody left who remembers what it was like to live through the war.

Germany does a great job of educating children about how Hitler came to power, so that people will recognise it when another threat appears. Unfortunately others aren't so well informed, and the rise of the far right across Europe, America, Brazil, etc, is very very worrying.

I've been reading a bit about generational theory recently, which claims that there is typically a major crisis once every 80 years (roughly). The generation of young adults at the time are a 'hero' generation who resolve the crisis and build a better future for their children, but it gradually falls apart over time. Largely due to individualism and the greed of subsequent generations (e.g. baby boomers). There are four generation 'types' and the cycle repeats itself every 80 years. The old 'hero' generation were those who fought in the war and worked to preserve peace when it was over. The current 'heroes' are millenials who will be dealing with the impending crisis (climate change, rise of fascism, war?). Obviously it's only a theory and it has flaws, but it's very interesting and it's easy to imagine history repeating itself, unfortunately. :(

Agreed OP, this is why BREXIT has been so upsetting. The EU was set up to PREVENT future wars like this. Yet people felt so threatened.