Lest we forget...
Today, 707 pupils at Wellington College lay down, as if dead, in the school's Quad, poignantly remembering the 707 pupils of Wellington who died in the Great War. Many of them left school to go straight into the war, and died within weeks.
Wellington always does Remembrance big. This year, they are devoting over a week to Remembrance events, holding ceremonies, services and tributes from Sunday 6 November to Sunday 13 November. This year, there was also eight performances of Journey's End, directed by Dr Anthony Seldon, the Master (headmaster). They also did five candlelit presentations. As the ceremony progressed, the candles were blown out one by one, leaving the room in darkness.
It must have been heartbreaking.
Dr Seldon, reckons the Great War is larger in the public mind than it ever was.
"With three years to go before the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War 1, what continues to surprise me is that the more World War 1 recedes in memory, the more powerful it becomes in the mind." he says on the school website. "Twenty five years ago, it seemed like the Trenches were about to disappear back into the mud. Now, the Trenches are alive with students and adult visitors. I can only imagine how much more busy still the Trenches will be as the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war approaches."
Hi! I’m Anne Diamond and on weekday mornings you can find me on BBC Radio Berkshire (10 - 1). Even if you don’t live in and around Berkshire, and you know me from my TV and writing, you can always read what I’m doing here or listen online. Welcome! 
Comment number 1.
At 19:23 10th Nov 2012, LarryWoller wrote:So long as mankind continues to refine the "club" and use conflicts to settle issues, wars will be remembered..if for no other reason than wars have a way of uniting a nation, when little else will.... will include a poem I wrote, believe there were some British lads there also!...
In Remembrance……(Hill 65, South Vietnam, January 1966)
We were volunteers, one and all
So Noble.. Proud.. and Brave,
Did not know the reasons for war
Just a people from tyranny to save!
Glasses held high, we made an toast
Surely that Victory would rule the day!
While back at home, the voices of unrest
Not a kind word for us did they say.
Some could not vote, children were we
Some could not drink, but still our battle cry,
Even with all that we could not do
For us children, it was to do or die!
Vietnam was a hostile, violent land
The dangers, the horrors of war abound,
Whether the paddies of Vietnam or the fields of home,
Seemed for us, not a friend could be found.
But we proudly gave it our all, lads
Faced our destiny with courage, with a hint of fear of tomorrow
Some... to return to a mother’s joy
Some... to return to a mother’s sorrow.
So should you be looking on today, lads
One more toast, hold your glasses high,
To PEACE, HOPE and LOVE, may they long endure
CHEERS, LADDIES!!!.. And SEMPER FI
(penned by; Sgt, Larry “Dutch” Woller, 12th Marine Regiment, South Vietnam, 1965–1966...)
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