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发帖数: 29846 | 1 The boy brimming with pride, the fanatics burning with hate... two faces of
Armistice Day
By Paul Harris
Last updated at 10:07 AM on 12th November 2010
He was 3ft tall in his shiny black shoes and he wore his great-uncle’s
medals with pride as he stood to attention in the rain.
Jonny Osborne, seven, symbolised the face of a new generation yesterday as
he marched shoulder to shoulder with servicemen and women to honour those
killed by war.
But three miles across London from the Armistice Day ceremony at the
Cenotaph, another face of Britain was on display. It was contorted with
hatred, poisoned by politics, and fuelled by flames from a giant, burning
poppy.
These were the Muslim extremists who brought shame to the memory of the dead
yesterday by breaking the traditional two-minute silence with chants of ‘
British soldiers burn in hell’.
Ironically, it was the freedom for which thousands fought that allowed them
to stage their demonstration at the stroke of 11am – the exact moment the
nation came to a halt at the Cenotaph, across the country, and after
parallel services at British bases in Afghanistan.
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The protesters were even given a police escort to their protest venue near
the Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington, thankfully the closest they
were allowed to the focal point of Britain’s remembrance tribute yesterday.
War, inevitably, linked the two events, yet they could hardly have been more
different. At one, violence and venom. At the other, dignity and deference.
Looking up: Seven-year-old Jonny Osborne, wearing his great great uncle's
medals, comes face-to-face with a soldier at the ceremony
Looking up: Seven-year-old Jonny Osborne, wearing his great great uncle's
medals, comes face-to-face with a soldier at the ceremony
Shameful: Muslim protesters break the Armistice Day silence in central
London today
Shameful: Muslim protesters break the Armistice Day silence in central
London
At the Cenotaph, Jonny shared the crowd’s applause as he walked behind a
cluster of Victoria Cross and George Cross holders. Among them were veterans
of the Second World War, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Absent on parade, but still fondly remembered, were the likes of Harry Patch
, the last Tommy from the trenches of the First World War. A stalwart of
these occasions, he died last year aged 111.
Which was why young Jonny and other youngsters had an important role to play
yesterday, an occasion born of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th
month, when the guns finally fell silent in the 1914-1918 fighting.
As the number of survivors and their widows dwindles with time, new
generations have become word-of-mouth messengers for those who gave their
lives.
Jonny told me: ‘All I know really is that people should not forget. I tell
everybody about the war – as many people as I can. It’s my favourite thing
.’
Disrespect: Police escort Muslim protesters towards South KensingtonTube
station after they began a protest in west London
Lack of respect: Police escort Muslim protesters towards South
KensingtonTube station after they began a protest in west London
His great-uncle, Sapper Lawrence Burton, was killed in fierce fighting on
the beaches of Greece in 1941 while serving with the Royal Engineers.
Jonny wore three of his medals yesterday as a guest of the Association of
Veterans of Foreign wars, of which his U.S.-resident grandfather Terry
Burton is president.
His other great-uncle, Len Burton, was shot by a German sniper in Italy in
1945.
So yesterday the great-nephew they never met added a few medals of his own
to his blazer, among them a Spitfire emblem alongside Union Flag and Stars
and Stripes badges.
Jonny, who attends a Church of England primary school near his home in North
London, added: ‘I said a prayer for them. I like praying to God. I think
people should. There were lots and lots of people praying for these guys.’
The ceremony honoured the dead from all wars and remembered the loved ones
they left behind.
David Cameron (4th left) participates in a Remembrance Day ceremony at the
Korean National War Memorial in Seoul
David Cameron (4th left) at the Korean National War Memorial in Seoul along
with French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (left), Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper (2nd left) and Australian Prime Minister Julia
Gillard (3rd left)
Mark of respect: Lloyds insurance employees observe the silence at a
ceremony at the HQ in London
Mark of respect: Lloyds insurance employees observe the silence at a
ceremony at the HQ in London
Even in the blustery and occasionally heavy rain, increasingly frail legs
managed to keep certain sections of the crowd standing ramrod straight.
When it rained like this in the trenches, everything turned to mud.
Yesterday it conveniently
disguised the tears that were shed for fallen friends.
Nearby at separate commemorations, poppy petals filled Trafalgar Square
fountain and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the Field of Remembrance and the
Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.
The two-minute silence was observed so strictly that the stillness it
brought to this part of
London was startling.
Helping the injured: Julie Dove from the Poppy Appeal attends an Armistice
Day service at Chester Cathedral with a members of the 1st Battalion the
Mercians who lost his legs in combat
Helping the injured: Julie Dove from the Poppy Appeal attends an Armistice
Day service at Chester Cathedral with a member of the 1st Battalion the
Mercians who lost his legs in combat
Concern: At Westminster Abbey, the Duke of Edinburgh shakes hands with
Lauren Levy (right) whose ex-boyfriend Andrew Griffiths died in Afghanistan
Concern: At Westminster Abbey, the Duke of Edinburgh shakes hands with
Lauren Levy (right) whose ex-boyfriend Andrew Griffiths died in Afghanistan
In what is normally one of the busiest sections of the capital, I heard a
dried-out leaf hit the ground after it fell from a plane tree in Whitehall.
Over at Kensington, however, the fanatics from Muslims Against Crusades, as
they labelled themselves, were just kicking off.
No silence was observed here. Captured on film, they burned a large model
poppy, and chanted slogans protesting at what was happening in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Spokesman Asad Ullah said: ‘We find it disgusting that
innocent people, innocent children, have been killed in an illegal and
unjust war and we are demonstrating against that.’
Jonny’s grandfather shook his head when he heard what had happened.
‘I’m stunned,’ he said. ‘Almost speechless.
‘It’s totally disrespectful to those who gave their lives. It’s
absolutely insulting.’
Back at the Cenotaph, Jonny went marching home.
With luck, the word-of-mouth message he spreads will endure longer than the
one the extremists were screaming. |
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