Remembering our fallen

It is always uplifting to see so many people turn out on Remembrance Sunday to attend the wreath-laying ceremonies and for the two minute silence at our war memorials to pay tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Nov 2013, 09:00 BST

However, I have to admit to being extremely upset within days as I see the wreaths scattered all over the place by the wind or by acts of vandalism and a total lack of respect to the fallen.

In Whitwell, I must praise their council for building little ledges onto which their wreaths are placed around the cross in the middle of the village. They also tied down their wreaths with cord, linking the wreaths together and run in a circle around the memorial, excellent thinking there!

Contrast that with the huge cross in Bolsover’s market place when at five to 11 on 11th/11th, I visited their war memorial only to discover no one there, instead there was a huge white van parked in front of it with a dozen or so wreaths laying on the top of the pansies in the ornate flower bed below it, were they blown off the shelf? I quickly opened the gate, replaced the fallen wreaths and looked at the names of those that had given their lives for their country, many only in their teens. Can our local dignitaries look in the mirror with a similar sense of pride I ask? Somehow I doubt it!

Geoff Evans

East Avenue, Stanfree