Centenary of World War One

Much is being made of the commemoration of WW1 as the centenary of its outbreak in 1914 approached. Trips to cemeteries, lots of information about battlefields, heroes and medals. The government website www.gov.uk/ww1centenary has the familiar picture of soldiers in the muddy trenches of the battlefront in France. But really, how do you commemorate the fact that some nine million combatants died in the horrors of those four years? Solemn ceremonies take place around the country on the anniversary of Armistice day, and we wear paper emblems of the wild poppies of Flanders, but the focus is always on commemoration of the brave men killed in action, although no actual victory was won.