Why is Remembrance important?

This time of year gives us a chance to think about all victims of war. Here’s why remembrance and commemoration are so important, even a century after the first Remembrance Day.

Remembrance

Why we remember

Image: Remembrance and Armistice Day are some of the most important dates in Commonwealth nations' calendars

The human experience has been defined by conflict and warfare for millennia. Since the dawn of history, humanity has been clashing together in bloody battle, but also mourning and reflecting on the cost of warfare and the loss of loved ones.

The first Armistice Day in 1919 helped formalise remembrance and commemoration in the United Kingdom. Over a century later, we still come together on 11 November for Armistice Day, and the closest Sunday for Remembrance Day, every year, to remember those lost in the World Wars and victims of all conflicts past, present, and future.

At this time of year, the iconography of remembrance, including the Royal British Legion’s familiar red poppy badges, is unmissable. 

But the key question is: why do we remember? Why do we spend our time and emotional energy contemplating such terrible loss and destruction? 

The importance of Remembrance

Image: Remembrance also allows us to connect younger generations with the experiences of the servicemen

Remembrance is a chance to reflect, commemorate, and give thanks to all those who fought and fell in the World Wars, as well as all victims of all wars.

The men and women who served in the World Wars shaped the world we live in today, with some making the ultimate sacrifice. In fact, some 1.7 million people from across the Commonwealth lie in our war cemeteries or are commemorated by name on our war memorials.

It’s our ongoing mission to care for the final resting places or points of commemoration. For us, remembrance is forever. We understand the value of remembering each of the men and women in our care, but if you are unaware, here are five important reasons why Remembrance is so significant.

An opportunity for reflection

Remembrance Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the experiences endured by many during the World Wars, as well as those affected by modern-day conflicts, both large and small. 

As mentioned earlier, those who served in the World Wars played a significant role in shaping our world.

A chance for peace

“Go over to Normandy, go to any Commonwealth War Graves site – France, Italy, wherever – and go round and look at the ages of people who were killed. And then do whatever you can for no World War to ever happen.”

Powerful words by George Batts MBE.

George Batts MBE was an 18-year-old Sapper with the Royal Engineers when he took part in Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, in June 1944. He managed to survive the Second World War, but no doubt lost many close friends and comrades in the fighting to liberate Europe.

Bayeux War Cemetery holds over 4,000 men lost on D-Day and the Normandy Campaign. Each burial represents a life snuffed out by the carnage and chaos of war; but, moreover, they represent a lost loved one, whose death would have an immeasurable impact on their families’ and friends’ lives.

Armistice Day and Remembrance ceremonies are great times to reflect on the human cost of war. Do we really want to send young generations into the furnace of battle once more? By remembering the fallen and how much they lost, conversations around peace and reconciliation can start to be held, too.

Remembering service & sacrifice

Image: Even man's best friend uses Remembrance for a spot of reflection (Sgt Paul Shaw - Crown Copyright)

As the Second World War begins to fade from living memory, it’s more important than ever to remember the people behind the names you see etched on Commonwealth War Graves headstones or war memorial panels.

Each of those lost was a person with their own hopes and aspirations; their own story to tell. We tell stories of the Commonwealth’s war dead on For Evermore: our online digital archive. 

Here, you can read stories, shared by the public, of men and women in our care, their wartime service, and how they came to sadly lose their lives.

Reaching younger generations is especially important. Our sites are powerful physical reminders of the cost of war, but education and outreach are equally important when it comes to remembering and commemorating our war dead.

We have created a suite of Remembrance education resources to help connect young learners with commemoration, what it means, and build a greater understanding of servicemen and women’s wartime experiences.

Appreciating our shared history

Image: A remembrance ceremony for New Zealand troops at Mud Corner Cemetery

The World Wars saw men and women from across the British Empire enter military service. They came from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Undivided India, East and West Africa, and many more corners of the globe.

Together, they achieved great things but also bore terrible losses. The World Wars are a unique thread that brings us together, not just in terms of the shared experience, but in commemoration and remembrance too.

Visit our war cemeteries or take a look at the name panels on a war memorial, such as the Runnymede Air Services Memorial. Here, you’ll find men and women from around the world who served and fell alongside one another.

Southampton’s Hollybrook Memorial is another perfect example of how we are united in commemoration. It bears the name of Minister of War Lord Kitchener, possibly the most senior British casualty of the World Wars, but also over 600 men of the South African Native Labour Corps who went down with the SS Mendi.

At Commonwealth War Graves, we commemorate and remember each of the 1.7 million people in our care equally, regardless of rank, race, or religion.

As Commonwealth War Graves founder Sir Fabian Ware said in his 1938 Remembrance Day address, “Our common remembrance…is the one thing, at times the only thing, that never fails to draw our peoples together.”

While he was referring to the First World War, Ware’s words are true of all conflicts. Through remembrance, we can better appreciate and understand our shared history.

To learn from the past

Image: The lessons of history can be keenly understood via remembrance and commemoration

While the World Wars laid the foundations for the modern world, we can never forget the appalling loss of life. Together, these conflicts claimed over 100 million lives worldwide. Even today, conflicts large and small rage in many regions, causing the same devastation to families globally.

They say those who forget the lessons of the past are doomed to repeat them. Remembrance is a time when we can look back to the past, consider what triggered these conflicts, and learn from them to avoid such events in the future.

This Remembrance Day Share Every Story, For Evermore with Commonwealth War Graves

For Evermore: Stories of the Fallen is our online resource for sharing the memories of the Commonwealth’s war dead.

It’s open to the public to share their family histories and the tales of the service people commemorated by Commonwealth War Graves so that we may preserve their legacies beyond just a name on a headstone or a memorial.

If you have a story to tell, we’d love to hear it! Head to For Evermore to upload and share it for all the world to see.