Hello.

Since researching my family tree and understanding a lot more than I did about the Great War Remembrance Sunday has become more poignant to me.

However. Some years ago I happened to find a book for sale at my local library which gave a history of how Remembrance Sunday came about. For some reason I decided to buy it and read it. It was the published dissertation of a women who had studied the history of Remebrance Day. Stupidly I think I have given it away.

What I give now is what I remember of the history.

Initially at the end of the war, despite war memorials and other symbols, no-one was prepared to acknowledge the great sacrifice the men and women gave for the cause.
Young women and widows were considered hysterical mourners and in fact it was mentioned as much in the Houses of Parliament in the fact that it was acceptable now that women had been given the right to vote as most of them would be spinsters for the rest of thier lives. At 30 years of age it was considered too old for most women to marry and have children.

The author stated that up until the 1914 -1918 conflict no one had formally remembered the dead (from war) at all.

If I recall correctly it all began in Liverpool or thereabouts. It became so important that an MP was urged to mention it in Parliament. Thereafter Remebrance Sunday came about. One interesting comment made about the whole issue was that up until the Great War death of a child or a young person was secondary to someone older dying. The reason given was that child mortality had been so high that it was not in the public conscience to mourn the young. However, as social conditions improved and the population reduced as family size became smaller one child families became more frequent. As these youngsters - particularly men - were old enough to go to fight the war their passing was considered even more tragic. So. If it had not been for a few determined people - mostly grieving fiances, girlfriends, sisters and mothers Remebrance Sunday would (if not delayed) not come about.

I wish I kept the book as I would like to check my facts but I recall that it was probably 1920 before a two minute silence was adhered to nationally.

The history also mentions how the poppy was used to generate income for the men who returned from The Front(s) and resentment was expressed by some because women had done this task before the men did. If the Government had given the men the right to an income to survive on they would not have been so desperate as to raise funds by selling button hole remebrance symbols. The icome they generated allowed them to survive. Many had wives and children.

I'm in Liverpool on Wednesday and shall make a point of visiting a war memorial.

Yours ASHleigh.

Ashleigh I think you're talking about Armistice Day - November 11th. The idea of Remembrance Sunday wasn't introduced until 1945.

Tom

Hi Ashleigh. I think that some of what you read was true but it seems to have been a book written with a particular slant on the subject. The fighting halted in November 1918 but the war did not end until 1919 when the treaty was signed. Much was happening politically and the government of the day may well have had matters to deal with which they thought were of greater urgency than a National Day of Remembrance. In the circumstances, I think they did react without undue delay. As far as injured soldiers were concerned, organisations to look after them were in existence while the war was on-going. One of the great tasks facing those who turned their minds to it after the war was to try to combine the efforts of different organisations and to a great extent, this was accomplished by gathering these efforts under the umbrella of The British Legion which was up and running in a few years.

ASHleigh, 'The Silence of Memory: Armistice Day 1919 - 1946' by Adrian Gregory, published by Berg in 1994, covers this subject. It was written while he was a Research Fellow at Kings, London.

Gwyn

Hello Tom.

Thank you for your reply. I stand corrected.

ASHleigh

Hello Truther.

You are right it would have been a book with a slant on the subject. I wish I had kept it so that I could read it now. It was a reflection of the time when those who were making decisions were not prepared to accept the sacrifices people had made.

It was mostly to do with marking the two minute silence.
ASHleigh

Hello Dragoon.

I think that you have probably found the book I was reading. If it was not that one it is very similar. It is strange as I thought it was a women who wrote it. It's been some time since I had the book. THank you though I'll see if I can get it from the British Libray.
ASHleigh.

Thanks for the info on this book, which I shall also look out for.

Brian Harding's book 'Keeping the Faith - The History of the Royal British Legion' includes some very useful material on the Legion's role in Remembrance.

ISBN 085052 826 7.

Philip

There are several copies of 'Silence of Memory' for sale on AbeBooks.

I bought mine in 1994 and I can fully recommend it. ISBN 1859730019

On this subject may I pass on my best wishes to all Forum Pals who will be doing their bit tommorrow (I shall be laying a wreath at Maldon) and on Wednesday and, of course, to the memories of all our brave lads who made the ultimate sacrifice and - "in giving their lives for England's sake, lost all but England's praise".

SPN
Maldon