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

[JustineBMumsnet]

NOW CLOSED

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

[woman11017]

Are we talking about WW1 or 2 here?

Which women spoke up?

[frogsoup]

Spudlet I had no idea that 1000s of men died on the day of the armistice. I'd naively assumed that once the document was signed things would have pretty much stopped, rather than them shooting and bombing up to the very last second. Says everything we need to know about the pointlessness of the loss of life. The more I think of it, the more angry I get at the idea that being grateful is the relevant emotion to summon up about ww1.

[Pieceofpurplesky]

I am grateful for the sacrifices made by so many young men. My grandfather was 15 when he joined up and went over the top in the Somme. He was injured but returned to war afterwards and got mustard gas poisoning. He was only 17 when the war ended but his life was changed forever.

I am also thankful to the Wilfred Owen and the rest of the poets who wrote about the real horrors to tell the truth and show those at home that Jessie Pope and Rupert Brooke's romanticised views were wrong.

[NastyCats]

The selflessness which made individuals put aside their own lives, aspirations, families, jobs, and so on to act as part of the armed forces, work forces, medical staff, ambulance drivers and so on. The greater good of the country and those in need was so often put ahead of personal desires.

[woman11017]

How did their deaths serve the greater good of the country and those in need?

[Helmetbymidnight]

I don’t think people want to think deeply about it.
They think a poppy and a platitude is job- done.

[Spudlet]

Pieceofpurplesky 'Dulce et Decorum Est' is the one poem I can unfailing recite by heart, twenty-five or so years after I read it at school. There are a few Sassoon poems that I can quote too. They stay with you.

In defence of Rupert Brooke, he died at the beginning of the war, before the utter hell of the trenches had really begun to bite hard. His poetry may well have developed, had he lived to suffer that. Jessie Pope though... it still makes me angry to read some of the glib rubbish she put to paper.

[MrsFrTedCrilly]

Im grateful for the accident of geography meaning that I live in a stable and peaceful place.
I’m ever thankful and respectful to all that suffered and sacrificed in times of war wherever they may be.
Also thankful for those who chose to serve their country.

[Pieceofpurplesky]

Spudlet yes I am sure the reality of war would have got to him too. The one that gets me is Bayonet Charge when he is tearing towards enemy and stops and wonders what he is doing and why ...

[EngTech]

I am reminded of the poem by Rudyard Kipling - Tommy.

True then and at times, true now.

I have been to the battlefields in France / Belgium a few years ago, the CWG places are immaculate

Went to the Menin Gate at 20:00 when they played the last post.

You could hear a pin drop and no one chatted at all, I have never known a silence like it.

A few us apparently got a bit of grit in our eyes

The price of freedom does not come cheap and I have nothing but admiration for what those people did

[lhlee62]

I am grateful for the world we live in now as they fought so we could live in a free country. I wish that some people in society now could see what they went through as they take it for granted. I am grateful that people have fought to keep the memories alive of what happened in WW1 as we shouldn't forget their sacrifices.

[jasjas1973]

WW1 wasn't fought for "Freedom" it wasn't a concept to be defended back then.

I mourn for their wasted lives.

“If any question why we died, tell them, because our fathers lied.”

Kipling was very keen on the war then his son was killed.

[Helmetbymidnight]

I am grateful for the world we live in now as they fought so we could live in a free country

I don’t think that’s true, at best it’s a massive over-simplification.

There is an argument that from the outset, we fought for Belgium’s freedom- I think it’s fab that we hosted 250,ooo Belgian refugees.

I often see brexiteers talking about ww1- and the stuff they come out with is- unsurprisingly - stupid bollocks.

The biggest lie is that we beat Germany ‘all by ourselves’. If you don’t know that this was a world effort- inc Indians, Caribbean’s, Australians, nz, Canadians, Americans AND our European allies, then there’s no help for you.

[Farwah]

Grateful for all the brave and the selfless warriors who fought for the freedom,who went out of their way to bring some peace in our society, but also sad for all the lives lost :(

[woman11017]

What freedom did these poor boys die for?

[FaFoutis]

woman I wonder how much of this is lack of knowledge and how much of it is aiming for the £300 voucher.

[woman11017]

Ha ha! Didn't see that! FaFoutis I see.......

Might be better to donate it to the hundreds of homeless British veterans currently dying on our streets, or some of our current Black British soldiers being deported due to the #hostileenvironment.

How about that folks?

[sheilads105]

Thank you to all the brave souls who fought and to the amazing Mums who waved goodbye to their sons. I'm grateful for the freedom you fought for.

[FaFoutis]

Yes, Mumsnet please donate the £300 to veterans. I'm sure all the grateful people on this thread would agree with that.

[Ceilingrose]

I am grateful that I didn't have a husband in the First World War then all my children in the second.

[vickyors]

I'm grateful that we can learn from the past, and hopefully, not make the mistakes of before. Also, I am thankful that others' pain led to the safety I enjoy now.

[frogsoup]

I didn't see that either FaFoutis . I suspect they might not be using a random generator this time around...

If I donated money to the RBL I'd be at it being used to donate 300 quid to some random person able to dream up the most jingoistic platitude about WW1. Much better to give it to someone who's had their limbs blown off in a foreign desert and then been abandoned to their fate by the government who sent them out there.

[bkaz]

I am grateful for women who were in the suffrage movement, Maries Curie and also wives and mothers who had to go out to work during the war due to men fighting in the war. This created job opportunities and some independence for women.
I am grateful for medical advances such as polio prevention saving a lot of children from such terrible illness also for birth control which helps a lot of families not having more children they cannot afford or want.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

I wonder how much of this is lack of knowledge and how much of it is aiming for the £300 voucher.

Doh.

I don't care. I'm glad most people responded to this thread honestly.

[Theimpossiblegirl]

I see the names on the memorial in my village and it breaks my heart. Lost sons, fathers, husbands, lovers. Generations of young men who never came home.
I'm grateful for their good intentions and sacrifice but not grateful for the war.
If I win I would like to donate my prize.