Remembrance Sunday.

In the summer of 1914 the Austrian-Hungarian Empire backed by Germany declared war on Serbia, Russia, France, Belgium and Britain. Over the next four years more then 15 million young men lost their lives. Some of their bodies were never recovered, identified nor given a proper burial.

When Armistice was finally declared at the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month 1918 (11:11, 11/11/18) the British state built a temporary plaster and plywood memorial to the unknown soldier in Whitehall known as the Cenotaph. Such was public anger at the time Britain was soon forced to make the Cenotaph a permanent memorial and set aside the first Sunday following November 11th as a day to remember all those who have sacrificed their lives in the service of others. The tradition of Remembrance Sunday was born.

In modern Britian this tradition means that later today (13/11/11) the leader of the Church (the Archbishop of Canterbury), the leader of the Royal Family (the Queen) the leader of the commoners (the Prime Minister) and the heads of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force) will gather at Saint Paul's Cathedral for a memorial service. They will move on to a poppy wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph. Private memorial services will continue throughout the day.

Obviously this year's event will be spoiled somewhat by the presence of the Occupylsx protest in the churchyard of St Paul's. It need not have been that way though. From what I gather the original plan was that on Friday (11/11/11) the majority of the camp would relocate to the Finsbury Square site. At St Paul's three tents would have remained to ensure the continuation of the protest across the three legally distinct plots that make up the churchyard. Those three tents would have contained three of the several British war veterans that make up the Occupylsx protest. Unfortunately Islington council evicted the Finsbury Square site and the High Court issued an injunction preventing the protest moving to Canary Wharf. As a result the Occupylsx protest seems to have been left with option other then to spoil Remembrance Sunday.

Although I really don't need to say it I'm sure that even if for legitimate political reasons members of the Occupylsx protest can't bring themselves to honour Britain's war dead they can at least take a moment to honour;

Blair Peach,
Ian Tomlinson,
Mark Duggan,
Trevor Ellis,
Haroon Jahan,
Shazid Ali,
Abdul Musavir,
Richard Mannington-Bowes,
Mark Rivers

and all those whose names have already been forgotten.