In attacking Jeremy Corbyn’s two-year-old statement about commemorating the first world war, Matthew d’Ancona does not take full account of the context in which the comments were made.(The first world war is still with us. That’s why we remember, 2 November). Corbyn made the remarks specifically about David Cameron’s plans to spend large sums of public money to celebrate the anniversary of the outbreak of the hostilities in 1914. There may be some argument for celebrating the end of that tragic conflict, but surely not the firing of the starting pistol that lead to the four-year slaughter that followed.
Tim Matthews
Luton, Bedfordshire
• When my father, who experienced the second world war as a frontline soldier, and the majority of his generation were alive, Remembrance Day was a sombre occasion in which the survivors of the two world wars remembered the losses and horrors of war, rather than the celebration of past martial glories that today’s ceremonies have become. Now that most of his generation are dead, there has been a loss from the collective memory of the horrors of war. The generation of politicians that survived the war resisted engagement in the tragedy that was Vietnam, but current politicians are eager to prove themselves by rushing into military engagement, in Iraq and Afghanistan (Tony Blair), or campaigning for intervention in Syria with our six ageing Tornado fighter bombers and our newly purchased US killing drones (David Cameron). Never have Erasmus’s words that “war is sweet to those who have never tried it” been more apt.
Derrick Joad
Leeds
• Matthew d’Ancona’s twisting of Corbyn’s 2013 response to Cameron’s plans to mark the 100th anniversary of the first world war – to imply that he doesn’t understand society’s collective gratitude to those who served and died – was desperately partisan. Many people felt that Cameron’s interpretation of the centenary was driven by inappropriate jingoism and his hope for party political gain. But then d’Ancona is also in denial that the main symbol of remembrance has been exploited by some who are happy for more war.
Most people who wear the red poppy do so with genuine respect for the loss and sacrifice of others. But shockingly, last year, with the remains of the poppy installation still outside the Tower of London, representatives of some of the biggest arms companies were inside, seeking to profit from war (Opinion, theguardian.com, 22 December 2014). And in 2012, during remembrance week, David Cameron toured Gulf states trying to boost British arms sales with his red poppy on his lapel .
Remembrance is most profound when it is personal, informed, voluntary and involves reflection and empathy. Around Armistice Day, everyone including Jeremy Corbyn, should be able to wear red, white or no poppy.
Richard Stainton
Whitstable, Kent
• Matthew d’Ancona is as guilty of missing the point over Remembrance Sunday as is Jeremy Corbyn. Of course every village in the land will want to gather to remember their forebears and the tragedy that overtook them. The problem is that such remembrances have the effect of perpetuating, down the years, the very partisanship that engendered war in the first place. We can break out of this insidious circle by making greater efforts to remember the dead of both sides – not just with a few passing words, but with names, photographs, histories.
Tim Shelton-Jones
Brighton
• My father was in the army from the age of 14 and in 1919, aged 21, he was invalided out with severe foot injuries after being blown up by a shell, wore special shoes for the rest of his life, and had to go into hospital 20 years later with the results of shell shock. As a kid in the 1940s, when the Remembrance service came on the radio, I clearly remember him saying: “Turn that off, Joe.” When I found all his medals in a junk box and he never once commented on them. I have a feeling that he would have agreed with Jeremy Corbyn in 2013.
Joe Phillips
Bingham, Nottinghamshire
• Why in 2015 are poppy sellers still collecting money for services veterans and their families? Our government is willing to commit billions to the renewal of Trident – expenditure that does not make me feel in any way safer, in fact much less safe – so can surely afford to provide adequate support to all our veterans.
Many years ago there used to be flag days to support local hospitals. Since the creation of the National Health Service, such funding has rightly come from our taxes. War widows and disabled servicemen should not have to rely on charity.
John Boaler
Calne, Wiltshire
