Remembrance Day and How Twickenham Has Played Its Part

Written by Vincent Cable MP and published in Richmond Informer on Mon 10th Nov 2003

Remembrance Day services and ceremonies contrive to make a powerful emotional impact. They remind the majority of us who were never required to put our lives on the line in war of the sacrifices of those who did.

Recently I did some research into past Twickenham MPs and discovered four modern war heroes: Sir Edward Keeling who won a military cross in the First World War fighting the Ottoman Turks, who later, while MP joined the RAF, aged 51, in the Second; the Hon Charles Mills who was an MP when he died in the trenches in 1915; Brigadier General Critchley a Canadian DSO; and Lord Alwyne Compton who earned his DSO in Sudan and the Boer War. Except possibly for Keeling, they have, sadly largely been forgotten.

The ceremonies have added piquancy this year because many British troops are still deployed in an unfinished war in Iraq, in danger of being caught in the backlash against the US occupation. History, again, is relevant. Britain largely created modern Iraq and installed its first ruler, King Faisal (played by Sir Alec Guinness in the film Laurence of Arabia). He was dreadful and provoked an uprising in 1923, which the British troops tried to suppress. After being welcomed, initially, the occupation turned sour, as now, and we left ignominiously. In one of the darkest stains on our military history, poison gas was used on Iraqis.

If remembrance is meaningful, we should remember the bad wars and the wars we lost as well as the successes. The troops who fought in them had little choice and did their duty whatever the political merits of the campaign. The veterans of Suez, the disastrous 19th century Afghan campaigns, the failed, dirty wars in Ireland and Aden must also be remembered.

That is why it is important for those of us who opposed the war in Iraq to show respect and support for the armed forces who serve there. Our quarrel is with the government not with them.