I stand here on a cold, damp, autumn day outside the small florists. I am noticing the war memorial. I have never stopped to peer at it before. It stands proudly in the middle of a busy roundabout in the market town of Oundle. It is surrounded by pubs, hotels, and many coffee shops.
It is opposite the Talbot Hotel, which was built in 1903, eleven years before you men left this bustling town. Not much has changed about the buildings. However, engravings on the memorial tell a different story.
‘IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THE MEN OF OUNDLE AND ASHTON WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919’
Did you all walk around this market town before leaving to join up? Did you have a final drink together in a pub? Did you eat at the talbot hotel watching through the windows at the people walking past?
Maybe you had walked by it many times yourselves with your families? Possibly off to the market with your friends. Now you would be filled with pride to know your country's freedom was in your hands. Suited and booted in your regiment's uniforms all brand spanking new.
As I look closer at the memorial, I pick out a random name GUNNER C J BENNETT. Who were you? How would you feel back then if you knew your name would be etched in stone among many other names in the middle of the town you grew up in? Did you have a family who waved you goodbye at the train station? Was your sweetheart there who you earnestly kissed with promises for the future when you returned? Were you hoping to be married one day? All these thoughts swirl around my mind.
Driving over the years around this memorial I have never noticed your name or the names of your comrades. Now I see you. I feel moved that you were willing to fight for all our freedom, how brave you were. You went away, never returned. You left in your fresh new uniforms and equipment, full of hopes and dreams, leaving behind families, friends, loved ones, without any thought about what may happen. You believed you were protecting them all by fighting for your country. Little did anyone know the horrors you were to witness.
When I next use this roundabout in the busy town of Oundle, with this memorial standing proudly in its center. I will now appreciate your sacrifice deeply. All of us today are free to walk about, free to chat, free to stop for coffee. We eat a bag of chips, shop at the market, and hotels. Carrying on with our lives.
I will think of you GUNNER C J BENNETT and all those who died in ‘The Great War’ for our freedom today.
Thank you so much for sacrificing your life for all of us today. I will never take it for granted.
Comments