11/11 – Don’t mention the war

460 Squadron RAAF crew

I’ve just spent the 2-minute silence contemplating my late father’s involvement in the Second World War, how proud I am of him, and what he thought of the Britain in which he passed away just two weeks ago.

Dad always told me that he “fought in World War II for Europe”. He fought for peace, he was pro-Europe, and had many European friends. Heck, even our family’s ancestors came to Britain from Germany centuries ago.

On this day, please don’t use the First or Second World War as justification for Brexit, or make the wars about patriotism and national pride. While we should be glad and thankful that the Allied forces united and won those wars, those who “fought for their country” really fought for freedom and democracy for all people, mustered by the rhetoric of patriotism and national pride. They fought against fascism, signs of which we are sadly seeing increase worldwide.

The wars were awful and millions of people died, so let’s not allow wartime to be humanity’s heyday.