Shall we ever forget ?

[Alan de Enfield]

Written by Abraham N. Cole who was the uncle of Charles W. Carr, and whose sons Reginald and Norman died during the war.

Private 1844 Reginald William Cole, 'C' Coy., 5th Bn. Gloucestershire Regiment, killed in action 12th May 1915, aged 22. The son of Abraham Noden Cole and Minnie Rosetta Cole, of 12, Clarence Square, Cheltenham. Born at Skenfrith, he is buried in Ploegsteert Wood Military Cemetery.

Lance Corporal 10406 Norman Frank Ewart Cole, 5th Bn. Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, killed in action 15th September 1916, aged 23. His is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.


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[Nagloc68]

Thanks for posting ADE.

On this 11 November 2021, Remembrance Day for most Commonwealth countries, and Veteran's Day in my adopted USA, my family and I want to thank all veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much for us. Lest we forget

As collectors of Enfields, these rifles have been held in the hands of young men around the world in some of the most horrible of circumstances. As collectors we have an obligation to the history, while also having a lot of fun. Many contributors on this board have served, and I personally thank you for your service and your knowledge and virtual friendship.

Attached is a stanza from "For the Fallen" by Robert Binyon, a tradition in Australia on ANZACC Day, and I think suitable for today.

"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."

[Surpmil]

"Shall we ever forget?"

The last line answers the question: those who remembered are gone, with very few exceptions.

Only those who are for reasons sometimes unclear even to themselves, somehow drawn to the history of that conflict will "remember" in future. There remains much that is still undreamt of in our "philosophies" and I conclude that in many cases there is some intangible but persistent personal link to those events - and logically to any other comparable events - that draws some people to them across the distance of time. Unfinished business of some kind? "Cellular memory" has now been scientifically proven, and if in mice, why not in men?