First World War Commemoration

Bob Russell Excerpts

Thursday 7th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Dr Murrison]

My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. Perhaps that is something that we could usefully raise with the German Government, with whom we are of course in contact on these matters, as he would expect. There are Germans interred in the churchyard of Sutton Veny in my constituency, and their resting places are instantly recognisable by the nature of their markers. That is a positive suggestion, and I think that matter could reasonably be addressed with Germany.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Dr Murrison]

I am going to make some progress, because I am conscious that a lot of right hon. and hon. Members would like to take part in the debate.

It is worth pointing out that the centenary courts controversy. None of us should be under any illusion about that. Indeed, we should welcome it. Opinion is already stretched between those who hold that the war was a futile wasteful tragedy and those who believe it was entirely necessary, notwithstanding the cost, and even that victory was as important in 1918 as it was in 1945. I believe that most of our countrymen going to war in 1914 did so with a firm sense of “doing the right thing”. Anyone familiar with the doctrines of St Thomas Aquinas and St Augustine would have said—and I agree—that our countrymen were marching or sailing to a just war. I know my own grandfather felt that way.

Even as Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey was observing lamps going out across Europe that would not be re-lit in his time, the bulk of Britain’s political class, under a Liberal Prime Minister, were confident that resisting a militaristic aggressor in the way proposed satisfied the moral preconditions laid out for a just war. I doubt whether those who stood here in 1914 deserve their reputation as the willing consigners of other men’s sons to hideous death. People should read Hansard for 3 August 1914 and touch those politicians’ agony; they should compare the quality of that pre-conflict debate to ours on Syria in August this year; and they should count off the shields around this Chamber and the names of Members of this House and their sons inscribed in Westminster Hall.

Few of our predecessors in the long expectant summer of 1914 foresaw the consequences or the terrible cost, but finally, after military victory, came political failure—a lesson for all of us who have the privilege and responsibility of sitting here.

I am grateful to the many Members on both sides of the House who have contributed to our preparations and continue to do so. I hope we have set a framework for a fitting centenary—commemoratively, educationally and culturally—that will, with the most profound respect, mark the seminal moment in our modern history for the benefit of all parts of the community, and particularly for the custodians of the legacy: our young people.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

I congratulate my hon. and gallant Friend the Minister not only on the measured speech that he gave today but on all the hard work he has done over a long period as the Prime Minister’s special envoy to ensure that this country gets this right. I also congratulate the hon. and gallant Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) on his speech. They both got it right. This is not a celebration; it is a commemoration. The language is therefore very important, and we are off to a good start. This debate is also about the relevance today of what happened 100 years ago. It was, of course, the last time that cavalry went into a major battle. Those four years saw the emergence of tanks and aircraft, so there was a complete change.

What happened then is relevant to what followed. The Chavasse rehabilitation centre in Colchester is named after Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC and Bar and recipient of the military cross, who died aged 32. He was the twin son of the Bishop of Liverpool. The battle of Guillemont saw acts of heroism by Captain Chavasse, the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the first world war. In 1916, Chavasse was hit by shell splinters while rescuing men in no man’s land. He performed similar heroics in the offensive at Passchendaele, gaining his second VC to become the most highly decorated British serviceman in the war. Sadly, he died of his wounds in 1917. The rehabilitation centre, which opened two or three years ago at the Colchester garrison, is funded by Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion.

My interest in the great war—it only became known as the first world war in 1939—started when, as a 14-year-old scout on my first class hike, I was required to do a task on a topic and I chose war memorials. As I went around the villages on the Essex-Suffolk border, the sheer numbers of those who died between 1914 and 1918—or was it between 1914 and 1919?—quickly dawned on me. The question of why some war memorials have different dates has to be explained. Why is it that in certain areas the war ended in a different year?

All the memorials referred to the men, never the women, of a particular village or town. I have only ever seen one memorial mentioning women from the first world war and that was in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada. That needs to be addressed.

[Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)]

The hon. Gentleman is delivering a very interesting speech. He has mentioned the number of young men and, indeed, women from some of the villages who were struck down during the great war. In my constituency, Northlew is in the tragic position of having proportionately suffered the most casualties of any community in the country. To commemorate the great war, poppies will be planted all the way from Northlew to the nearest town of Okehampton, which is seven miles away. Will the hon. Gentleman join me in saluting all the men and women in local communities throughout the country who will do so much to make sure that those who died in the great war are not forgotten?

[Sir Bob Russell]

I endorse the hon. Gentleman’s words. I think he has read my mind, because I was going to go on to say that, while this is a national and international event, it is what happens in our local communities that is important in terms of bringing it home to today’s generation.

The BBC’s world war one centenary season will be the biggest and most ambitious pan-BBC season ever undertaken. There will be four years of programming and events spanning 2014 to 2018, more than 130 specially commissioned programmes and about 2,500 hours of programming.

Others also need to be praised. The Imperial War museum has already done a fantastic amount of research. It is asking people around the country to search in the attic for diaries, memorabilia and artefacts that belonged to their granddad, great-granddad or great-granny. In the past week, I have been advised of a constituent who has in his loft a wing mirror from an Army vehicle that was situated less than a mile from the front line somewhere in France. A German sniper took out the wing mirror and, significantly, the driver of the vehicle was a woman. We need to recognise such memorabilia and stories.

Returning to the local theme raised by the hon. Member for Central Devon (Mel Stride), the War Memorials Trust has said:

“As we approach Remembrance Sunday we are all aware that next year the nation will mark the centenary of the start of World War I. The following five years will see ceremonies remembering significant moments of that conflict. War memorials will play a central role.

Yet, apart from Remembrance Sunday, how often do we look at our local war memorials? When was the last time you stopped and read those names, or went further and looked at the condition of the memorial?”

It continued:

“Simple steps, taken by you and members of your community, can make a significant difference in ensuring our local war memorials are preserved. It is vital we act to stop names and inscriptions fading and disappearing, prevent deterioration due to a lack of maintenance and deter those who contemplate vandalism and theft.”

In my town, we have an avenue of remembrance, where trees were planted in the 1930s that name individuals from Colchester who lost their lives. In the 1st Colchester scout headquarters, there is a stone memorial to the boy scouts who went into the Army from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Colchester troops and lost their lives. It is such things that localise the war.

What about the blessed or thankful villages, of which there are 32 in England and Wales, but sadly none in Northern Ireland or Scotland, where not a single person lost their lives? There is just one in Essex, the village of Strethall. Today, it has a population of 26. It is arguably the smallest parish in Essex, and possibly in the whole country.

To conclude, the Government’s project will see thousands of schoolchildren visiting the first world war battlefields to ensure that the bravery and suffering of the fallen is not forgotten. Those youngsters will be the great-great-grandchildren of those who lost their lives in the great war, the first world war.