# Lest We Forget



## parish (Jun 29, 2006)

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

_Ode of Remembrance_ from _For The Fallen_ by _Laurence Binyon_​
Following on from our visit to Arnhem, we went to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery a few kms down the road in Oosterbeek. Here lay some 1600 British, Irish, Canadian, New Zealand, Australian, and Polish soldiers, airmen, and sailor (there's just one).

This is the first War Cemetery I have visited and it was a very humbling, thought-provoking, and moving experience - especially reading some of the personal inscriptions on some of the headstones.

Probably the most horrific statistic is that the vast majority of those resting here were in the 18-25 year old age group. There are a lot of members of DW in that age group who post wondering what alloys to get for their VTS, or which LSP will give the deepest, wettest finish on their black BMW, but 65 years ago the only thing they would have been wondering is whether they would live to see another sunrise. As this, and 2,500 other similar cemeteries around the world, show very, very, many did not. A very sobering thought indeed.

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Some 240+ of the graves are these 
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Finally, seven little words that say it all
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## ZedFour (May 6, 2008)

A humbling place and that card indeed says it all. I found it very draining. I also visited the WW2 Cemetary in Bayeaux where the soldier's families were asked to send in a short epitaph. The one that I will always stay with me is 

"To the World you were one, To us you were the World"


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## rockape (Feb 18, 2007)

thankyou for posting. it's a shame that our own kids are not educated to the same degree that the dutch are.


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## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

thank you for posting


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## Tom90 (Dec 25, 2008)

I went to some war graves 2 years ago, we went for the day, it was a very sobering experience... when you drive around between the wargraves its hard to believe that only 60/80 years ago there was HUGE devistation there..

We then went to two places which had preserved the trenches from ww1... and it was scary. huge holes in the ground... trenches only 4 metres away from each other (basically if you were in that trench it only would of taken a quick grenade to end your life.. its a scary thought.



I'm 18 btw and It upsets me how many of mates don't care about Rememberance Day  Even though their Grandparents fought in the war to keep them free


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## RP Stevie (Jan 24, 2007)

Very humbling pictures - my owe those who died a dept that we can never repay.


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## ChrisJD (Apr 15, 2009)

Nice photos.

These places do make you think and even remember grandparents etc and the sacrifices so many people made for their country, willingly or not.

Chris.


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Lovely images Parish.

We have an American war cemetary near us at Madingley and it never fails to make me feel wholly inadequate and very humble and thankful.
It look fabulous and is immaculately kept. 

Lest We Forget


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## npinks (Feb 25, 2008)

Great pictures

I keep thinking, even though none of my grandparents were across the water doing their duty (they was in the home guard) I would still like to visit and have a walk round to pay my respect.

It also amazes me that the grounds are all perfectly kept, looking like they have been freshly cut and tended on a daily basis, which is completely different to our normal (non military) graveyards in the UK which are overgrown and vandalised etc.


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

I too have been to Oosterbeek cemetary, having written my A-Level project on the Market Garden Operations in Arnhem and rode the Island Highway down to Nijmegen - we camped in Oosterbeek for 3 days.
While the gritty 'Bridge Too Far' film made it clear there was little glory there, and despite camping in woods pock marked with dugouts and shell holes, nothing prepares you for row upon row of graves such as this, a small cemetary compared to the Western Front.
I hope this thread gets as many views at the Hot Babes one.


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## hibberd (Jul 5, 2006)

Its a very sad sight to see, especially the young age of most of the people. What is very sad is that whilst everone goes just to the big war graves. Over the North of Holland just about every old cemetry has a section of war graves from bombers that were shot down on the way too or from the major cities in Northern Germany, its horrifying how many airmen were killed and are buried there, and often forgotten but just as important are the many thousands of Germans in war graves. They never asked to fight and die either, they are the victims of politics too but sadly we forget that.


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

Thank You.


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## Deanoecosse (Mar 15, 2007)

for all those people who say "the war finished over 60 years ago, it's time to stop having remembrance services every year", they should have a look at these images and spare a few minutes to think of what these thousands of young boys gave up to ensure the rest of us live in freedom today. They will be remembered FOREVER.


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## Naranto (Apr 5, 2007)

Just to add my tuppenyworth, a couple of additional photos. Never been to a war cemetery before - very moving experience.









Entrance to the cemetery









Many soldiers were never found. One grave inscription showed a son who died at sea on Oct 1st. The other son died at Arnhem on the 19 October. As a parent I cannot comprehend the devastation it would have caused to the family.









The straight lines of graves continued row after row.









This was 'only' one side of the cemetery.

Finally a poem by Sam Ruben, who I along with my wife and Parish were priviledged to meet, :

'Ode to Market Garden'
by Sam Rubens

Close your eyes for a moment and think way back,
Of the Sunday that Arnhem's bond should crack,
Remember the soldiers, those loyal men all,
Fighting for Arnhem, where many would fall.

Now open your eyes and scan the sky,
Where they came down like birds from on high,
Those red berets, so courageous, without fear,
Who strived for Arnhem and paid so dear.

Close your eyes once more and remember your gains,
For our bright world they went to great pains,
Let us all realise we're still free today,
Because they brought us freedom, they pointed the way.

Just fold your hands now, for Britons and Poles,
Beneath their white crosses and pray for their souls,
When your prayer is over, keep the memory alight,
Our city still lives because they did us right.

By Sam Rubens of Arnhem, Holland


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## hibberd (Jul 5, 2006)

*An Extract from warpoetry.co.uk by Wilfed owen WW1*

DULCE ET DECORUM EST1

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, 
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, 
Till on the haunting flares2 we turned our backs 
And towards our distant rest3 began to trudge. 
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots 
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; 
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots4 
Of tired, outstripped5 Five-Nines6 that dropped behind.

Gas!7 Gas! Quick, boys! - An ecstasy of fumbling, 
Fitting the clumsy helmets8 just in time; 
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, 
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime9 . . . 
Dim, through the misty panes10 and thick green light, 
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. 
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, 
He plunges at me, guttering,11 choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace 
Behind the wagon that we flung him in, 
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, 
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; 
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood 
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, 
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud12 
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, 
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest13 
To children ardent14 for some desperate glory, 
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est 
Pro patria mori.15

8 October 1917 - March, 1918

1 DULCE ET DECORUM EST - the first words of a Latin saying (taken from an ode by Horace). The words were widely understood and often quoted at the start of the First World War. They mean "It is sweet and right." The full saying ends the poem: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - it is sweet and right to die for your country. In other words, it is a wonderful and great honour to fight and die for your country 
2 rockets which were sent up to burn with a brilliant glare to light up men and other targets in the area between the front lines (See illustration, page 118 of Out in the Dark.)

3 a camp away from the front line where exhausted soldiers might rest for a few days, or longer 
4 the noise made by the shells rushing through the air 
5 outpaced, the soldiers have struggled beyond the reach of these shells which are now falling behind them as they struggle away from the scene of battle

6 Five-Nines - 5.9 calibre explosive shells 
7 poison gas. From the symptoms it would appear to be chlorine or phosgene gas. The filling of the lungs with fluid had the same effects as when a person drowned 
8 the early name for gas masks 
9 a white chalky substance which can burn live tissue 
10 the glass in the eyepieces of the gas masks 
11 Owen probably meant flickering out like a candle or gurgling like water draining down a gutter, referring to the sounds in the throat of the choking man, or it might be a sound partly like stuttering and partly like gurgling 
12 normally the regurgitated grass that cows chew; here a similar looking material was issuing from the soldier's mouth 
13 high zest - idealistic enthusiasm, keenly believing in the rightness of the idea 
14 keen 
15 see note 1

a

To see the source of Wilfred Owen's ideas about muddy conditions see his letter in Wilfred Owen's First Encounter with the Reality of War. 
Notes copyright © David Roberts and Saxon Books 1998 and 1999. Free use by students for personal use only. The poem appears in both Out in the Dark and Minds at War, but the notes are only found in Out in the Dark. 
Copyright © 1999 Saxon Books.


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