How long are we likely to commemorate the world war events?

[SprigatitoYouAndIKnow]

Seeing the footage of the D Day today made me wonder how long this will go on for. My generation had grandparents who fought and some parents who were young children in WW2. I remember grandparents saying about their parents experienceof WW1 too. I feel lucky to grow up in a free country, but my kids don't have the same links or memories.

We don't still commemorate ancient battles that were won, or any infighting between the nations of our island. The world wars were on a much larger scale and had a very clear and evil enemy, so I would expect more collective remembering. I very much hope we don't have an equally big, or bigger, conflict in the future, so I assume that these things will go on for many years to come. Is there precedence from history?

I completely agree Op.

I think this is a disrespectful post because ‘Lest we forget’.

It’s people that ask questions like this who think perhaps it’s slightly overblown and irrelevant or cringey or passé or boring etc lend weight to the idea that we sweep the lessons of history aside.

And yet newer generations need to be reminded of them more than ever.

Even when people comment on the language used by politicians, people dismiss it.

Hitler didn't just rise up and start the tragic events in Europe, the Holocaust and all that followed. His language, rhetoric, demonisation, propaganda all made the conditions possible.

We commemorate WW2 and events around it. But people really need to know the warning signs to prevent similar tragedies.

I was thinking the same thing today. On the one hand we have big D Day and Remembrance celebrations in the UK each year, on the other 11% of the population are seriously contemplating voting for Nigel Farage and his utter contempt for democracy.

Precisely how many wars have the "newer generation" started? "Lest we forget" means nothing unless we actually learn. Or are wars ok as long as nice, white, Europeans aren't the ones dying? All we've learned is to offshore our conflicts.

I'm not in the UK, but our commemorative day, which started in 1916 to honour those who died at Gallipoli, goes from strength to strength in NZ and Australia. There are far more people at the dawn service now than when I started attending it, and many young people attend.

Wonder how many children realised it was D - day today and what it means. My children said it wasn't mentioned at school today , we have watched some of the footage from today.

We might still think on the individual tragedies of deaths in Afghanistan, Korea, Vietnam (although there's a much more challenging narrative then the good Vs bad of WW2) but I'm really not sure that anyone is thinking about the great sacrifices that people made in the War of the Austrian Succession and how their efforts built the country we have today.

Wow. I can't believe you actually posted this. Distasteful to say the least.

I wonder this too op.

We're currently contributing to the appalling slaughter in Palestine - 'lest we forget' my arse.

Russia and the Soviets suffered so much loss in WW2. An unbelievable amount of death - civillians and soldiers.

And now they are losing young people in their fight in Ukraine.

I just don't understand that way of thinking.

My grandfather fought on the Somme and I have had the honour of attending commemorative ceremonies there. No sign of interest diminishing in WW1 although I realise I am the last generation to have personally known someone who fought in that war.

I didn't have any relations at D Day, but did have one at the Dunkirk evacuation. His stories of going back and forth across the channel showed mind blowing bravery. Having seen the devastation once and still returning showed immense courage. My kids will only ever hear of these things through videos or fictionalised versions, so it will be different for them to understand. History, not uncle Harry.

I am so upset that brexit has messed up our young people's opportunities for mixing and understanding. The way things are going, it does seem like nothing ever changes.

But we aren't being reminded of the lessons of history a lot of the time, it's just watching politicians lay wreaths or more people die flying ancient aircraft. How many people have actually gone away and researched anything about WW2 or D-Day and how many have just embraced the tabloid 'lest we forget' without actually knowing what they are at risk of forgetting? Its only worth doing if its meaningful.

I think that's one thing about France - you can see streets name after Resistance fighters, memorial plaques where people were executed by the Nazis, ruins of villages that were destroyed - so they remember the awful events of WW2 as it's remembered where they live.

And they are now part of the EU, working with a country where people of that country carried out awful events in their country. And that happened not too far after WW2 ended.

That approach to working together to after WW2 amazes me.

Well exactly, that's why I say maybe it becomes something more for people with direct military connections because please God let's hope we don't have another national conscription war.

I agree they gave a lot to keep us free.

Forever I hope, I mean 2 world wars are pretty significant parts of history!

I think we will for a long time. I remember having to learn a poem called The Charge of the Light Brigade at school 40 years ago, which was about a terrible mistake made in the Crimean War in around 1850, and actually, it's only now that I can see that the time difference between that war and the First World War is similar to the time difference between now and the Second World War. It makes you realise that the people written about in the poem, the soldiers of the Crimean War, were real people, with real hopes and fears. All very sad. Hope we never forget what our men and women went through.

I believe it's a meaningful time to reflect on death, celebrate life, and express gratitude for all the brave brave soldiers. However, I find the practice of wearing poppies year-round less impactful, as it doesn't seem to truly honour the fallen soldiers.

My dad was at the D day landings. He was 22 years old. Not much more than a boy.

He fought so that we would have freedom of speech although he never spoke about the war and he had no time for ongoing sentimentality about it. He just wanted to put it behind him.

While I understand why you say what you do and respect your right to say it your timing is very insensitive. I am thinking of my late dad today.

A distasteful post, but a teachable moment. We're nearing the point in time where WW2 will slip from living memory into history. It's very sad. The memory must be kept alive.

With the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

I didn't find your post distasteful at all. It didn't say "when do you think we're going to stop all this palarva?" as people are implying, just a genuine question about whether there was a historic comparison.

I agree with the post above that it's likely to become a more military focused event as it ages out of living history. But that's still a good while left, as this thread shows there are plenty of people in their 60s who have direct connections to those who died.

There were very few people in Europe not touched by the two World Wars and of course the impact was much wider than only Europe. War was mechanised and highly organised in a way it hadn't been before. It was recorded, not just In writing, but on film and In photos meaning we know about it from all sides in great detail.We've been able to learn all sorts of things about it and from it.

In my own family we had veterans of WWII. The youngest was under 50, younger than I am now, when I was born. These were ordinary people whose lives were turned upside down for a number of years and who lived with the consequences afterwards too. Not just the good, defeating the Nazi war machine, but dealing with the after effects of what they experienced.

In future children may not meet veterans in person, but their testimonies will live on long after they have gone and we should never forget.