Meaningful Remembrance: The Great War and its Commemoration

Who will remember, passing through this Gate,

the unheroic dead who fed the guns?

Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,-

Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones?"

Siegfried Sassoon, 'On Passing The New Menin Gate'

November has for many centuries held a place for Catholics as the Month of the Dead, a time to reflect and pray for the departed. In the last century it has also become the month of commemorating The First World War as well as soldiers and veterans more broadly. In this episode of Risking Enchantment, Greg Daly joins us to discuss The Great War, how we remember it, how we commemorate it, and the complexities surrounding these commemorations.

We discuss the prevalence of poppies in Remembrance services, where that tradition comes from and why there is more to commemoration than paper flowers. We look at the experiences of those on the Western Front in the First World War and the soldier’s own complex feelings about topics such as heroism, morality and commemoration. Finally we also touch on the importance of incorporating their Christian faith into our remembrance of them.

Music: Ashton Manor by Kevin MacLeod

Hosts: Rachel Sherlock, Greg Daly

Follow me on social media: @seekingwatson

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Follow Greg on social media: @GregDalyIC, @thirstygargoyle 

http://thethirstygargoyle.blogspot.com/

 

Find out more at www.rachelsherlock.com

Find out more about Leaven Magazine at https://leavenmagazine.ie/

Works Mentioned

“Why has Remembrance become weird?” by Niall Gooch

 “The Future of Memory: Remembrance In Years To Come” by Niall Gooch

“In Flander’s Field” by John McCrae

“We Shall Keep the Faith” by Moina Michael

“On Passing the New Menin Gate” by Siegfried Sassoon

Blueprint for Armageddon - Hardcore History, podcast by Dan Carlin

They Shall Not Grow Old, dir. Peter Jackson

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien

Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs

 

What we’re enjoying at the moment:

Greg: Fraiser, Purgatorio, and Hell Boy Mark Minola

Rachel: 

O Brother Where Art Thou, 

The Hound of Death, by Agatha Christie, audiobook read by Christopher Lee