November 11: To remember those who lost their lives in conflicts since 1914

Today, at the eleventh hour or the eleventh day of the eleventh month, is our opportunity to thank the millions of soldiers who lost their lives in conflicts in the 110 years since the start of the first world war. And to remember their sacrifice for a better world. 

In the words of John Maxwell Edmonds in the Kohima Epitaph:

When you go home /Tell them of us and say /For your tomorrow /We gave our today.

Today, in all corners of the globe, there will be a minute’s silence to commemorate the 1918 Armistice at the end of the first world war. 

This article is being published precisely at 11 am GMT, coinciding with the world-wide commemoration. But remembering is also a local act of remembrance, and that is where it is most poignant.  

As I remember, I am highlighting a special village where I live. It played a vital role in the trials and tribulations of World War II and serves as an example of the wider act of remembrance. 

Martlesham Heath

The Suffolk (England) village of Martlesham is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 — William the First’s inventory of all he surveyed and all he possessed after conquering the English in 1066. 

Old Martlesham village is located in the lovely countryside next to Martlesham Creek. 

Near to old Martlesham was some flat heathland which was requisitioned as an airfield in 1917, during the first world war. It eventually became RAF Martlesham Heath. After 46 years of operation, and having played a significant part in the second world war, it closed in 1963.

Rebirth, but we remember

I am fortunate to live in the award-winning 1980s Martlesham Heath village, which was built on the airfield in the 1980s. The village has some 1,400 dwellings and 140 acres of woods and open spaces. I feel very much that I am part of this village community, even though we are still in of the wider parish of Martlesham.  

In 2017, residents organised a two-day event, titled Martlesham Heath 100, and erected a commemorative stone at the edge of the vast village green.  On the stone is a plaque giving the history of the Heath over the last 100 years, helping us all to remember the village’s key role during the war.  

US 365th Fighter Group

Elements of the old airfield are still visible in parts of the village, and none more so than the 1943 control tower built for the arrival of the 365th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF): renamed later to the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1947.

The Martlesham Heath Aviation Society, founded by residents some 30 years ago, helps us to remember these events, and keep the memory of the airfield and its history alive. The Society has hosted over the years visits from US and UK veterans and their descendants to this historic old airfield.

The 365th Fighter Group had a tough time during the two years that it was located at Martlesham and lost 72 airmen on operations.  

Goodwill

Such was the feeling of goodwill to the Unit, that a Captain Eric Harvey, who lived locally and hosted injured airmen in his house, decided to erect a lasting memorial to these 72 airmen.  

He asked locals to contribute a maximum of sixpence (2.5 pence in modern terms). With enthusiastic support, the community raised sufficient money to raise and dedicate the memorial in July 1946. This was the first memorial to the USAAF in the UK.  

The 365th Fighter Group was initially equipped with P47 Thunderbolt aircraft, but latterly the P51 long-range fighter replaced it.  

The remarkable colour photograph taken by a US serviceman in late 1944 from the balcony of the Control Tower shows the P51’s with their distinctive colours of blue diamonds with a red background on the engine cowling.  

Gratitude

The local gratitude towards the USAAF ensured that the design of the modern Martlesham village sign incorporated a P51 fighter and an USAAF insignia. 

Every year, on Remembrance Weekend, Martlesham Heath Aviation Society hosts a Service of Remembrance. It is held at the site of the memorials in Barrack Square, where the old RAF buildings are situated.  

Continued US presence

In Suffolk, there are still two US Airbases, RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall. We at Martlesham are delighted that a USAF officer from one of the bases can attend the annual Remembrance Service. It is traditional for the officer to place a wreath on the memorial to those from the 356th Fighter Group. They made the ultimate sacrifice.

For the 2024 service, the Marching Band of the USAF based in Ramstein, Germany, is scheduled to attend. They will also provide the music for the service.

Personal reflections

As I write this article, I reflect on my own personal thoughts of remembrance.  I reflect on my grandfather’s time, serving on the Western Front during the first world war.  My mother told me later in life that after that experience he lost his faith. He also had nightmares for years afterwards.

I also reflect on my service in the British Army, where two young men with names and faces didn’t return to our Regimental Barracks after a tour of duty.  

In the Macfilos article, the Ultra Secret:“Sensationalist Nonsense”, I recounted my father’s wartime service with his postings to the US Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Armies.

In the article of March 2021, I wrote:

Since Captain Hodge J Vineyard undertook the long silence, I wonder whether his descendants or relatives have seen his letter from Colonel Kelm or know of the nature of his wartime service. By my estimation he would have been born between 1910 and 1920 and might have been a lawyer on his return from the war in 1945.

In December 2023, Macfilos received this message:

Jack Vineyard was my great Uncle by marriage. I knew him and of his service with Ultra, but had never seen this letter or the photo. You correctly identified him on the far right. 

Subsequently, I had several email exchanges with Jack Vineyard’s nephew and great nephew.  They told me that Jack was a brilliant guy and after the war was an electronics engineer with General Electric.  At one time, he worked on the design of the space shuttle. He and his wife had no children.

The reach of Macfilos

Here, after nearly three years, we have an example of the extraordinary reach of Macfilos around the world.  The “Swiss Roll mystery” may be solved yet.

So, as I contemplate the state of our conflicted world today, I admit I am filled with a slight sense of foreboding. Yet as I read the elegiac poem “For the Fallen” by Lawrence Binyon, written in 1914, I find solace in its noble and idealistic theme of freedom.

Stanza four is used in the “Ode to Remembrance” and the words will be recited at the Martlesham Service of Remembrance and at other services around the globe.

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. 

More reading: 



9 COMMENTS

  1. I’m proud of all my relatives who served. One of them died on their last mission. Others moved across oceans to fight for another country in the Great War. They all knew the price of sacrifice and we pay homage and thank them today for their service.

  2. A lovely piece, Chris. I was pleased to see the Irish Ambassador at the Cenotaph yesterday laying an, appropriately, green wreath which stood out from the other rest of the wreaths which were all red. A great many Irish men and women perished in the two World Wars, even though, in the former case, an uprising against British rule in Ireland started in 1916 and, in the latter case, we did not participate in the Second World War, primarily because of our very recent history with Britain. That is all consigned to history now, of course.

    A memorial park was built in Dublin in the 1930s, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, commemorating those Irish people who perished in World War I. Today it is a National War Memorial Garden and commemorates Irish people who have fallen in in all wars. We also have a National Day of Commemoration which is held on July 11, which is the anniversary date for the signing of the truce with Britain which ended the Irish War of Independence. These days that is very much a multi-denominational and multi-cultural affair, as the nature of our society has changed greatly in recent years. I covered some of this in 2017 with my Macfilos article titled ‘In the Pocket: Photography from World War One’. In that article I showed some photos which I had taken with a Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) from 1915. The VPK was sometimes referred to as the ‘Soldier’s Kodak’. That article is one of my pieces that I am most proud of on Macfilos.

    As a former military man you have really captured the importance of remembering those who have gone before us to protect the precious freedom which we have today. Martin has also captured that in respect of his country. Every country has its own way of doing this and that should always continue.

    William

    • William
      Thank you for your kind comments. I have just read your Macfilos article; “In the Pocket: Photography from World War One”. No wonder you are proud of it. To me it has three key ingredients: high quality writing, excellent photographs and a riveting story.
      Perhaps our editor may like to feature it once again on the Macfilos home page.
      Chris

    • Kevin
      Your article of 7 July 2021, “Langley Vale Centenary Wood” is certainly worth rereading at this time of remembrance. The final photograph, “We will remember them”; is to me a masterpiece of evocative imagery.
      Chris

      • Thanks for this Chris. I timed the visit when the photo was taken using The Photographers Ephemeris to be in that spot when the sun set through the gap in the trees. The photo came to mind last Sunday during a remembrance service. It is special for me and I am glad that it means something to others. Let me know if you would like a copy. I expect Mike could put us in touch.

        Also the sister article Witness deals with poetry from the first world war and would be relevant for anyone interested in this topic.

  3. Martin
    Thank you for that interesting perspective from the USA. The Civil War resulted in over a million casualties if my research is correct. As you say; “A war that was fought, not to defend freedom, but to actualize it.”
    Chris

  4. How we remember those who gave up their lives in war is an interesting study in itself. As the older generation will remember, November 11 was originally Armistice Day, the day the guns fell silent in 1918, ending the most brutal conflict the world had seen. It must have been a huge deal then, but soon to be overshadowed by the war that followed in just 20 years. Therefore, in the USA, Armistice Day was renamed Veteran’s Day.

    The USA gave up an order of magnitude greater number of lives and treasure in WWII compared to WWI. Yet we do not celebrate VE Day or VJ Day. Instead we have Memorial Day, which rolls all the sacrifices into one. Why? Because Memorial Day began as a remembrance of those who died in the American Civil War. Certainly not to diminish the sacrifices in Europe by any nation, but Europeans might not know that more Americans died during the Civil War than all other wars America participated in, combined. A war that was fought, not to defend freedom, but to actualize it.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here