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?

@Screamingabdabz

"The lesson is to not let bullies and inhuman ideology prevail. Would you rather the uk be in the appeasement and ‘turn a blind eye’ camp?"

For my family the lesson was that the loss of a central family member and the subsequent cost to the family for decades was absolutely not worth the benefit to the country. All for the benefit of people who either benefited from the war / post war or didn't seem that grateful for the sacrifices of others.

It may seem abhorrent but if history was repeated and Hitler was sat in Calais waiting to invade the UK I am firmly of the opinion of not fighting against this. My family wasn't Jewish, wasn't gay, wasn't gypsy, wasn't communist or anything and quite selfishly would been alright if the Germans had invaded.

It seems today that those who would benefit most from keeping freedom of speech, democracy, stopping persecution of minorities, stopping racism and sexism, other inhuman practices etc are those that are the least likely to be willing to fight to defend them.

My dd celebrates trafalgar day each October, military, we aren't even forgetting battles that long ago. Whilst people are alive that have heard the stories first hand so my grandparents telling me, it still seems very much recent

It may seem abhorrent but if history was repeated and Hitler was sat in Calais waiting to invade the UK I am firmly of the opinion of not fighting against this. My family wasn't Jewish, wasn't gay, wasn't gypsy, wasn't communist or anything and quite selfishly would been alright if the Germans had invaded.

Yes - I find your attitude abhorrent.
I suspect there is no value in quoting Niemöller's poem 'First they came' to you.

Celebrates or commemorates?

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats

"Yes - I find your attitude abhorrent.
I suspect there is no value in quoting Niemöller's poem 'First they came' to you."

I agree with you that this attitude is abhorrent but it comes from a realisation that those who would suffer the most from a loss of their freedom of speech, political views, religious views, democracy, right to protest are the least likely to be willing to fight to do defend them.

Not only do they expect others to fight on their behalf because they are unwilling to, they even criticise those that do. That is equally abhorrent.

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats

I equally expect there is no value in quoting Kipling's poem "Tommy" to you either.

Let's also not forget that Niemöller was also an early supporter of Nazism, anti semitism and Hitler, until Hitler insisted on the supremacy of state over religion (ie until it impacted him personally).

I think it will change when there's no one alive who ever met anyone who fought in ww2. So not in my lifetime as I heard my grandparents tell their stories. But my kids. If I had any. When they are grown it will be ancient history to them.

My Dad fought in WW2 and grandfather fought in WW1. DM was at Bletchley. I grew up hearing about their wartime experiences, so I feel I know quite a bit about it. My DC know a bit but less than me, my DGC will probably see it as ancient history which they only really learn about at school. I think it is inevitable that as the generations go on and the direct connections to it all are lost then the way it is remembered will change. Not to say it won't be (or shouldn't be) remembered or commemorated but it is bound to be different.

It may seem abhorrent but if history was repeated and Hitler was sat in Calais waiting to invade the UK I am firmly of the opinion of not fighting against this. My family wasn't Jewish, wasn't gay, wasn't gypsy, wasn't communist or anything and quite selfishly would been alright if the Germans had invaded.

Have you asked any of the ordinary people who lived in countries under Nazi occupation if they were "alright"?

This.

I lit two beacons today I'm 2 different villages to commemorate those who gave their lives for us to have ours.

Totally disrespectful and down right rude.

But sure isn’t that why he wrote it. It’s a warning.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller

But do you think we will have a 200 year anniversary of the D Day landings?

A 300 year?

Will there be a 200 year anniversary of VE day with street parties?

I wouldn't have thought so. 125 years maybe but not beyond that. It's becomes too long ago and there won't be anyone with any sort of personal connection.
The last veterans are all late 90s plus
Their children probably in 60s / 70s
The DGC are likely to be 30s/40s

Although their is a section of the community who like to walk every year to celebrate a battle that happened 300 years ago. No sign of that ending.

But I do think Rememberance Day / Rememberance Sunday will go on forever, unless some other sort Rememberance Day takes over. But thats a brutal thought of the pain and suffering that would need to happen for that to happen.

Why not?

Christ died 2000 years ago and a Mr Fawkes is celebrated even now!

People reenact battles most of us have never heard off and the numbers of people who are over in Normandy driving around in jeeps and dressed up as soldiers is quite incredible.

If there is money to made, someone will market it and we'll all fall in line.....

People might re-enact battles and stuff but that's partly bringing history to life and a bit of fun.

Its not commemorating and remembering the sacrifice of the people who died, with heads of state etc.

200 years maybe they will do mass re-enactments pay £50 to take part but at the moment that's would be seen as insensitive to those who died and suffered.

@thefireplace but that is about fun and a nice day out. No one stands for a minutes silence at the death of Guy Fawkes. Remembering the suffering and those who have died is very different.

I would revise that to say 90's plus veterans, 70's and 80s parents and GC 50's and 60's. The veterans in their nineties were teenagers or very early twenties during the war.
I am a GC and we are the last generation really with any personal connection. After that it just becomes stories passed down.

I was thinking an average of 30 years a generation. (A figure obtained from the Antiques Road Show but makes perfect sense to me)
100-30 = 70 for the DC
70-30= 40 for the DGC.
But remember first time Grandparents 👵 can be anywhere between about 32 and 85 depending on when they and their DC have children.

I understand that. But those in the second world war would now be 90's to 130 if alive and old enough to be parents. Those still alive in their nineties were only teenagers or very early twenties towards the end of the second world war. Many will not have been married or had children yet.

Anyone aged 100 was 16 in 1940. I don’t know if the services actively recruited that young. My DM did do “war work” as a nurse and I’m now nearly 70. Few people live beyond 100 and many of them won’t have actively taken part in any active service or war work.As we can see from the pictures from France, it’s literally a handful. In another 10 years it will be none.

Growing up I did know all about Churchill and the war. My maternal grandfather went to WW1. My father started work on the family farm in 1915 as so many farm workers had joined up. He was an ARP warden in ww2. My DC fully understand the sacrifices many people made in ww2. However our attitude to war has shifted. We televise the deceased military returning home to Wootten Bassett. We honour every single one. When thousands die, there’s no time for that. We don’t want that for dc. Many parents would resist dc joining up.

As a result I think we will remember but in a different way. After 1945 wars touched few Brits. They haven’t been faced together so the military are honoured but there are no nurses, land girls, or Home Guard involved. So unless there’s another major conflict it will move on but we have passed 100 years after ww1 so we do have long memories and, of course, history lessons.

Only yesterday I was reading in the Times about the upcoming European elections and the rise of the far-right parties - with mentions of 1930s Germany.

IMO some people are all too aware of warning signs.

@TizerorFizz There was a veteran on TV who was in his nineties and did service when he was 18 years old. The second world war finished in 1945.

It's still within living memory. I can remember by grandparents and parents talking about it a lot . In the 70s there was not a week went by that the war wasn't mentioned onTV or the radio . The reason why the two world wars are made more of is because they were exactly that . Global conflicts.

I found people did not talk about it much if they were in the war. I heard more about the home front. But the reality of war is not something most men talked about. The man I know who was in a Japanese POW camp and was tortured, never talked about it at all.

Well, in the US we celebrate independence every year and that was in 1776!

Personally, I think there’ll be a centenary memorial in 1945 and then it’ll start to fade into history. I think it still has some meaning for current generations, but it’s fading away. Even though I never met him, I still find it hard thinking of how my Grandfather died (ship torpedoed) and even my teenagers find it sad.