Shropshire Magazine

Never forget . . . This month is the 90th anniversary of the First World War Armistice.

This ubiquitous and hateful credit crunch, that so dominates our lives, means that life is hard for many people. It may well get harder as jobs are lost, homes are repossessed, and families struggle to make ends meet.

It is important not to make light of this. These are tough times. Most of us, though, will get through it relatively unscathed.

We might end up with a bit less in the bank and a ropier pension but we are truly blessed to be living through this era.

My gas bill might have gone up a few quid, but at least I’ve never been forced to stand in a trench, knee deep in mud, shivering with cold and fear.

I might have been forced to hand over an extra 10 pence for a carton of milk, but at least I’ve never cowered in a hole while shellfire crackled deafeningly and lit up the freezing dark air like bonfire night.

I might have found myself paying a few pence a litre more at the forecourt, but at least I’ve never been forced to leave my family for a foreign land, never knowing whether I’d see them again.

My enemies might be bills and banks but I’m fairly confident they’ll never send some around to fix me on the point of a bayonet or drown me in mud.

As rough as life gets for us today, it will never turn as sour as it did for so many of our ancestors. A whole generation of young men in this country was wiped out between 1914 and 1918.

A whole generation of young women never knew the joy of marriage to a loving man. There arose in this country a vast army of spinsters and maiden aunts, sad and often ridiculed by youngsters impervious to a deeply hidden pain.

They are no more. November marks the 90th anniversary of the first armistice and those who can bear testimony to what passed on the fields of France are gone.

This month also marks the 90th anniversary of the death of one of Shropshire’s most famous sons, the war poet Wilfred Owen. In this issue we look at his short life and work and outline some of the events that are taking place in Shropshire in honour of the poet. We talk to some of the Shropshire members of The Wilfred Owen Society.

We also feature pictures from Shropshire Royal British Legion’s Remembrance Service as well as the remarkable story of some of the county’s brave World War Two glider pilots.

There’s plenty else in a packed edition, features with a lighter touch and all the regular food, fashion, gardening, antiques and motoring columns.

But whatever else we do this month, we must remember the millions of war victims who sacrificed their lives so that we might live in freedom.

Even for just two minutes at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we must remember. If only to give us a sense of perspective.

Neil Thomas, Editor

Email Neil here