One hundred years ago on Sunday November 11, in a week's time, many countries will stop and remember the silencing of the guns on the Western Front. For over four years the Great War ravaged its way across France, Belgium, Turkey, Russia and Germany. Eleven million plus, dead, landscapes destroyed, poisoned and forever changed many to this day, lay in the wake of this 20th century tragedy. To this day in many places the war continues through the recovery of human remains and their subsequent reburial plus many thousands of acts of commemoration across Europe and throughout the countries of the Commonwealth. Physical memorials and commemorative events continue to remind contemporary generations of the war that was meant to end all wars. As we know that phrase was never going to be one of truth or reality as war and conflict continued to this day.
Over the last 4 years there have been numerous functions commemorating various events and significant aspects of World War One. The 'Commemoration industry' has been thriving with tour groups, mementos (some tacky ...some precious) and local businesses cashing in on the upsurge of visitors to places like Amiens and Villers Bretonneux on the Somme, Ypres and other regional centres. Money has been made and some are unsure of 'what next' after November 11. New museums and commemorative projects have been built, some transitional and others permanent. It would be easy to become very cynical if your only experience was the hurried 'Three day discovery battlefield tour across the Somme and Ypres...pick up in Paris...drop off back to same.' Drop in for a brief photo opportunity at 'key sites' ...click click...back on the bus. Make sure you buy yet another poppy badge or fridge magnet for the folks back home...very moving!!
Yet there is SO much more to these sacred places. I prefer to visit them when they are empty at times of the year when there aren't any special events and the accompanying crowds. And if you allow time to immerse yourself in these regions you will discover another world.
On my recent stay in Ypres I had the enormous privilege to see commemoration in action in a variety of ways. The daily ritual of attending the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate is a must when you are in Ypres, though with so many groups attending now in the lead up to Armistice Day, the wreath laying part of the 8.00 pm ceremony has become problematic as some nights over 20+ wreaths are laid. On one of the nights next week there will be 40+ groups laying wreaths! In my opinion it seems to detract somewhat from the power of this incredible event as school groups, tour groups and individual tourists all jostle and squeeze to the front for a better view. Mmm...mass tourism has its moments! However despite this it still has the power to move as one reflects on why this has taken place every night since 1927 (excluding the years of W.W.2 )
Some of the most beautiful and evocative examples of commemoration in Ypres are three projects worthy of comment. 'Coming World Remember Me' has been ongoing over the last 4 years and involved 600,000 volunteers making clay models to represent ONE person they wanted to remember who was killed in the Ypres Salient during the war. Each person also had a metal tag with the name of the soldier they were remembering which was deposited in a large glass case. When the 600,000 clay models (which equals the numbers lost in the region during WW1) were finished they were laid out in a field as part of an art installation to be removed after November 11. My co-project leader of Connecting Spirits, Mal Jurgs, suggested last year that we involve our group when we were there in 2017. At the time, (to my regret) my feeling was that it seemed a bit tacky and commercial so we decided against participating. Here comes my public apology to my colleague Mal....sorry mate..I was wrong. This was something we should have done as when I walked past and around all of those hand made clay models each with little individual markings made by their artist, it was something quite profound. It was the physicality of it that made its emotional impact.
Another equally powerful but very different project, one that has a strong personal connection, is the Polygon Wood of Peace. Thanks to wonderful locals like Gregory Verfaillie and Frank Mahieu an oak tree wood has been planted containing over 500 oak saplings. Family members could apply to have a tree named in memory of their relative who died in the Passchendaele battle thus creating an ongoing living memorial to the lost. To see my great uncle Martin Neagle's name on a living tree so far from home, was strangely comforting. That sense of loss seemed to be softened by the ongoing life of the tree. Here commemoration takes on a whole new direction as no money changed hands, the time spent by these beautiful Flemish residents is provided on a volunteer arrangement. And when you talk about this to the Franks and Gregs of Belgium and the Somme the reply is consistently the same...'Your family came here to MY country on the other side of the world to protect MY family. We will never forget..'
Finally the 'missing chair at the table' initiative by the 'In Flanders Fields Museum' team. During the war families would wait for the return of their loved one as their chair at the table remained vacant. The research team discovered that soldiers came from over one hundred countries to fight in the Ypres Salient. So to represent all of those missing family members at the table, each country was invited to send a single chair..100 in total. Each chair is different and we saw chairs from Shetland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Melbourne, Angola, Poland and so on. Such a tangible symbol and once again potent in its impact. Simple yet pure as an act of remembrance.
So when the clock ticks over at 11.00 am on the 11th of November this year, I will reflect once more on those who gave and lost so much not only in the 1914-18 war but all those since then.
LEST WE FORGET....
