Armistice Day has greater resonance than ever

Yesterday's Armistice Day was one of the most important in recent years.

At a time when British soldiers appear to be making little progress in Afghanistan and yet continue to lose their lives on a regular basis, yesterday served as a day of reflection for many.

The First World War was of course on a completely different scale to the wars we see today, and the loss of life was horrendous in comparison; but at the time this was justified by saying that it was 'the war to end all wars'.

War breeds war

The reality was of course that 'the Great War' did not end all wars, and it was only twenty one years later that the second world war began. If anything the First World War only served to create more favourable conditions for more wars.

War is never an ideal solution and rarely does it achieve an ideal result. The reality of war is that many people will die, both civilian and military in the pursuit of victory and there is little that can be done to prevent this.

The crucial point though, is whether or not the sacrifices made during wars are justified. If your relative has died for a good cause it will of course be devastating, but at the same time one may feel a sense of pride in what they stood for.

If however your relative dies in a futile war, then their death could be seen as a waste. This is the dilemma that politicians and soldiers' relatives have to mull over on a daily basis.

Dilemma

Is the war in Afghanistan worth losing British soldiers for? The Prime Minister maintains that we are fighting in Afghanistan to maintain Britain's security from terrorist attacks, and that if we were not there we would be under serious threat.

This may well be true and not many people are able to look at the intelligence reports to be able to agree or disagree with this statement. Public opinion though appears to be turning away from supporting the war and this is dangerous for Gordon Brown.

The recent public row with the mother of dead service-man Jamie Janes did not help Mr. Brown's cause and while the criticism of the Prime Minister in this instance was mostly unjustified; it shows how impatient people are becoming with the war.

The Prime Minister should have taken more time to draft his letter to Mrs. Janes but portaying him as insensitive for making spelling mistakes was a bit of a cheap shot from The Sun.

Brown said on Monday "I have at all times acted in good faith seeking to do the right thing. I do not think anyone will believe that I write letters with any intent to cause offence."

Need for debate

This argument though clouds the real issue of whether or not is time to start bringing home the troops and unless things start to improve quickly expect to see the issue debated more frequently in parliament.

There is a danger however; that if this does happen it could be seen as showing a loss of support for our soldiers but this is no reason not to have the debate.

The mission objective in Afghanistan has become muddled and by not having a proper debate on what we are trying to achieve there, could mean that lives will be lost when they need not have been.

Yesterday's Armistice Day service at Westminster Abbey included the words of Wilfred Owen the First World War poet, and much of his poetry still resonates today.

For instance 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria more'. These words have been repeated over and over, but today they have lost none of their meaning and perhaps for some, none of their cynicism.

The situation in Afghanistan does not appear to be improving and on a day when the US ambassador in Kabul has allegedly advised the US President not to commit thousands more troops to the war-zone, the future of the conflict looks uncertain.

It may be difficult to redefine the mission but for the brave troops, their families and the public mood, it is essential that this happens soon.

Harry Patch's death cuts our last living link to World War One

Today the the funeral took place of the last British soldier to serve in the trenches of World War One, Harry Patch.

Mr. Patch did not speak about the war until be was 100 years old, but since then he has often spoken out about the perils of going to war. Harry was by all accounts not keen on a full military funeral, so was it right to see such a fuss made over it?

For a man who clearly did not enjoy his time in the army it did seem a little inappropriate for the military to dominate his funeral. After all, out of his 111 years very few of these were spent in the army.

Link with the past

But of course this really misses the point. Today was not about the ordinary man Harry Patch, it was about our last living link with this historic event, the first world war. Harry just happened to be the last man standing.

So then it was perhaps inevitable for his funeral to be met with such pomp and cirumstance, and perhaps Harry would have understood this. Speaking of Harry Patch in this way sounds like I knew what he thought or what he was like, but of course this is wholly untrue.

This is precisley the problem. Recently some people have used Harry Patch to prop up their cause, most recently anti-war protesters, but Mr. Patch never endorsed any of these causes. All he did was stay alive long enough for people to think they owned a piece of him.

Poem

Perhaps the best coverage of Harry Patch's life came in the form of a poem written by Andrew Motion, the out-going poet loreate. The last verse of which is as follows:

"You grow a moustache, check the mirror, notice
you're forty years old, then next day shave it off,
check the mirror again - and see you're seventy,
but life is like that now, suddenly and gradually
everyone you know dies and still comes to visit
or you head back to them, it's not clear which
only where it happens: a safe bedroom upstairs
by the look of things, although when you sit late
whispering with the other boys in the Lewis team,
smoking your pipe upside-down to hide the fire,
and the nurses on night duty bring folded sheets
to store in the linen cupboard opposite, all it takes
is someone switching on the light - there is that flash,
or was until you said, and the staff blacked the window."

Motion's poem (which can be found here) tells the life story of a man who lived a normal life in South-West England. It obviously includes his time spent at war, but unlike most coverage of Harry, it does not confine his 111 years entirely to the trenches.

Never forget

To risk sounding as if I knew him again, Harry was not a willing soldier but did his duty, even being wounded in the process, but his death meant so much for so many people because of what he represented.

The First World War should never be forgotten and now that we have lost our only living link to this event, it is now more important than ever that we never forget the sacrifice that our soldiers have made and continue to make.