To be conflicted about Remembrance Services?

My uncle is the same about medals he won while serving.

Scratched them all then binned them.

Has nothing to do with remembrance.

I guess those who have seen things that affect them long term don't always come out with a positive impression of the armed forces.

I've always thought remembrance has as much as, if not more of sometimes, a focus on WWI, to be honest.

Get over yourself

the 11th minute
of the 11th hour
on the 11th day
of the 11th month

is about rather more than your family member

I too am conflicted but for different reasons. My father was in Singapore in the 2nd WW. He refused to wear a poppy or have anything to do with remembrance events.

There are several European countries that make so much of a fuss at the end of the war, that they have national holidays on 8th May to commemorate the end of WW2. And have services of remembrance at the many many many allied military cemetries there.

In my village, we mark the Volkstrauertag (as i said, next week on 16th) at our war memorial. And all the fallen in all wars are remembered. And we are welcome there even though (or maybe especially since) everyone in the village knows we are both ex(british) forces.

It's not about WW2. It's not about sides.

I wish everyone who has a problem with Remembrance actually understood what it seeks to commemorate...

'I feel the UK makes too much of the whole thing.'

Approximately 80million deaths in WW2 alone. 80million people dead. This is very clearly a fishing trip/wind up post by the OP but seriously, you have stooped so low as to taking the piss on this subject. Well congrats, you have hooked me in with your rage bait. That line has to be the single most vile and disrespectful sentence I have ever read on this site. You truly are the lowest of the low. Kindly fuck off.

"can we just not play on WW2"

We don't. Remembrance Day is set on the day it is to mark the end of World War I and commemorates the sacrifices of service members in both World Wars and all subsequent conflicts.

Nearly 400,000 service personnel died in WW 2. There's no 'playing' in remembering those people. It's deadly serious.

It’s one day a year.

It's about showing respect, the words they gave their tommorows for our today's come to mind.

If you are conflicted don't engage, leave it to those who wear poppies, and respect remembrance day.

Yep unfortunately.

Lest we forget
and yet we’ve forgotten or don’t seem to care

Yes they have a fair few in France too 😂

remembrance ceremonies are a big part of “never forget” which is more important now than ever surely?

we are starting to forget specifically because the people who lived through it are dying out

I think I know what you mean. On the one hand you want to remember the poor lads who died but on the other you don’t want to join in the glorification of war in the form of “dulce et decorum es”.

Britain loves to remember the wars where they were on the right side of history whilst at the same time sweeping under the carpet the ones where they were belligerent colonisers.

But even if you were descended from an actual Nazi I don’t see why remembrance would be an issue?

There are no 'sides' in Remembrance services.
Pacifists will attend commemoration events because, despite despising war(who doesn't?), the day is to remember all victims of war.

Ignore it then. FYI Volkstrauertag is next Sunday (16th) you can beat yourself up about it all then, if you like.

You’re not being very clear, OP. Do you mean that the German attitude to remembrance is so different to the British one that it makes you uneasy? You thing ceremonies like what’s on the BBC now looks too like glorifying war?

It’s remembering those who served in the wars and thinking of the sacrifices and losses of those times.
Why are you conflicted? Can you not think of all of your relatives no matter what their background?

i have dual nationality, British and German. I have no issue with either honouring their war dead, why should i??
(FYI: you do know that most Germans were happy to see the back of Hitler and his brownshirts?)

There’s a total fascination/obsession with war memorial services in the UK in my opinion. I often wondered is it similar in other countries?

Both sides, like the allies and the Nazis? Personally, I'd choose the "not Nazi" side.

for me, it’s remembering anyone killed in any war. Whatever side.

It's all gone very 80s, hasn't it?

It seemed as if it all changed in 1995, when we marked 50 years since the end of the war. The emphasis shifted from lions led by DONKEYS to LIONS led by donkeys

Now that practically all the veterans (and indeed their younger cousins) have gone, the tide is turning again.