Mumsnet users share the things they’re grateful to the First World War generation for with The Royal British Legion

[JustineBMumsnet]

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In light of the 100 year anniversary of the end of WW1, The Royal British Legion would like to hear about the ways you’re grateful for those who served, sacrificed and changed our world.

Do you have an appreciation for the incredible women who helped change women’s role in society, leading many more women to work in jobs outside the home? Are you grateful for the medical advances that were made out of necessity that benefit so many today, like plastic surgery and blood banks? Or perhaps you’re grateful for product innovation like the wristwatch, teabags or sanitary towels? Maybe you’d like to thank the children who took on extra responsibilities like helping MI5, even though it meant they grew up too fast?

If you’d like to find out more about the contributions made 100 years ago, please click here.

See what Mumsnet Co-Founder Justine Roberts is thankful for below:

If you have any family stories or photos that make you feel grateful for your ancestors of 100 years ago, please feel free to share these below.

All who post below will be entered into a Mumsnet prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

We will never endure what they have had to endure for our futures.

Weelll, you don’t know that do you, and only 20 years after the Great War, over 60 million people would die in the 2nd ww so...

frogsoup The glorification of 'sacrifice' by organisations like the RBL is actually incredibly distasteful.

I agree wholeheartedly. Other than subsidising beer down the local British Legion club, what does a donation to the BL actually do these days?

I don't mind donating to the BL. They do provide help and support for ex-soldiers shafted by the government they fought for. They did it for the broken and damaged men of WW1, they still have to do it 100 years later.

I don’t think remembrance is glorification and I certainly don’t think that’s all the rbl do.

I'm grateful for the amazing sacrifice everyone (those who fought, and those left at home) made for the future generations. I can't imagine the anguish of losing your loved ones in such a way. Totally selfless.

I'm grateful for the sacrafice made. The men who lost their lives & by the women who lost their dads/brothers/sons/lovers
I'm thankful for the bravery they shown walking into hell

Grateful to both my great grandfathers who fought and returned from the Somme. They bore their experiences with quiet dignity and DM GGF went on to run the observer core in the village in WWII.

Bless all that sacrificed lives and their time for our freedoms

I agree wholeheartedly. Other than subsidising beer down the local British Legion club, what does a donation to the BL actually do these days?

They provide support, monetary and otherwise for serving forces, ex forces and their dependants. They think outside the box and pay for things that you wouldn't necessarily think of - TV licence for an elderly widow, bus pass for a young ex soldier, legal advice for a serving soldier, donation towards the purchase of dance outfits for 2 children whose mum used to make them. They provide employment for injured ex forces, sponsor paralympians, even a final terms school fees for the child of an Afghan fatality - these are all things that I know of on a personal basis.

I am grateful for the strong women. Those who stayed at home and tried to make life as normal as possible without their 'head of household', those who dug in and got on with it, not knowing how long it was going to be. Those who were widowed or whose husbands were so fundamentally changed that their lives were never the same - and often worse. Those that went to work in fields and factories and kept the country turning. Those that fought themselves, often in darkness and in secret and even now under a cloud of mystery. Those that paved the way for women like me to join, to serve and to make a difference. I am grateful for them, and thankful for the person they made me.

I’m grateful to them all for their bravery for fighting for our freedom. I will be wearing my poppy proudly as I do every year, it is the very least we can do to pay our respects

The link was really interesting and helpful - I am indeed grateful for the invention of tea bags.

However I do agree with some PP. it's hard to be grateful when trying to comprehend such immense loss of life.

I respect the soldiers who fought for this country in the First World War, and also respect the sacrifice made by soldiers currently serving for the UK.

I am grateful to the sacrifice and bravery of the women who served in the First World War- both on the frontline especially medics, and on the homefront. The war was an utter tragedy- ‘lions led by donkeys’ - but I believe it has led people to be more questioning of authority now, which in most cases is a good thing.

I hate war and don't understand how killing innocent people can be the way to settle differences between countries. It is awful that so many people gave their lives and didn't have a choice.

With regards to what I'm grateful for - teabags and zips as well as sanitary towels - all invented during the war and are things that have had a positive effect on life more millions

I am grateful to people who saw the slaughter of WWI and became pacifists, sacrificing sometimes their lives, sometimes their livelihoods and reputations for what they believed in. I am not a pacifist and i wear a red poppy, but i am grateful to those who promote the white poppy in a country that would still consider any public figure who wore a white poppy in public to be an extremist.

I'm grateful to all those who gave their todays for us.

I would be grateful had we learned how to avoid such conflict.
Sadly we did not.

I don't think grateful is the right word. I think I admire the men who went and fought, under the command of some very incompetent officers. They put up with a lot. And their families back home. I admire the nurses who worked continuously through the war to get the men well enough to be sent home (or back out in the field as the case may be). But grateful? I don't think so.

Now the Second World War, I am grateful to many for.

@Helmetbymidnight
What she said!
I was trying to find the right words to express my feelings and it’s exactly what you said. Respect not gratitude and it’s entirely appropriate to remember without glorifying.

I'm grateful for all who fought for our freedom.

I'm grateful for the freedom that I have, for the immense sacrifices made by those who fought in WW1 and all subsequent wars, for the freedoms that make life worth living. For all the innovation and tremendous courage demonstrated year after year by those at home and abroad and for the hope that this war, this will be the last...

I agree wholeheartedly. Other than subsidising beer down the local British Legion club, what does a donation to the BL actually do these days?.....FYI
I'm ex forces and disabled. The RBL gave funds to my local branch of Ssafa to enable them to buy me a scooter. They also help ex forces with paying fuel bills etc when they are in need!

This war will be the last? Really? Bullshit.

We are just cannon fodder and our 'freedoms' have always diminished in these situations whilst making some miserable bastards even wealthier.

id like to say thankoyu to everyone.
I read much on that time.and watch the videos and films and I cannot comprehend what they went through.
for both the people out there fighting and those left behind to either carry on or deal with grief of losing loved ones I cant imagine it.
and also a special wow and thankyou to all those that came back so changed.in this day and age we saw more now of what war can do and how it can change and often make people poorly with ptsd.so having to come back when there was very little help for this it must have been often tragic for both sides the sufferer and the families.
the horror they must have seen the to come back and live.i just cant think of being that brave.
thankyou for coming through for all of us.for those at home.in offices.in the fields.for those away fighting,undercover on land air or sea.any ages.for those fighting and those not.for the brave children being moved around and confused.for mums and dads.woman and men.thankyou.
and one special thanks to the animals that helped.the horses.the dogs.and even pigeons.thankyou.

Agree with PPs that “grateful” seems inappropriate.

The people from the countries in WW1 living in those times were unlucky. They fought - or went through / were affected by war if not soldiers - because of politics and military decisions. It wasn’t as simple as “fighting for freedom”.

Agreed that "grateful" is inappropriate.

According to the RBL, "More than one million Service men and women gave their lives in the First World War so that future generations could live theirs." Does that also apply to the 2 million Germans who died? to the 1.5 million men from the Austro-Hungarian Empire? They too believed that they were serving their countries.

It seems to me that all of them were victims of one of the most greatest acts of folly that humanity has ever committed. They deserve to be remembered, but not because of any supposed sacrifice for future generations, or for freedom.

I have a lot of family photos and stories, and I have shared them on sites which I feel are appropriate. That doesn't include the Royal British Legion.

Many gave their lives so that future generations could live in freedom. They were so brave (and possibly naive), so young and so will never be forgotten.

Reading about Kate Middleton's three great great uncles (all from one familly) once again brought home the sacrifice made. :-(.