The guns fell silent on Weymouth Beach again yesterday when The Nothe Fort re-enactment Society fired a cannon on the beach.
The sounds of the Last post still ringing in our ears, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore seemed in time with the Trumpet.
The silence was deafening even the gulls who normally cry remained silent during the 2 minutes of silence.
As we stood there many people were lost in their own memories of those who never returned, speaking their name silently.
Many others thought back to the family history shared over the last 100 years, of broken minds and bodies.
Returning home never sharing their experiences or understanding why friends and family had died on land and sea, when they had survived.
Each wreath of Poppies laid in front of the Cenotaph recognising the sacrifice made in defence of our country.
Like many others we followed them to the American memorial to pay our respects.
Everyone sensed it was the one way we could show our emotions about The Great War.
We then thought it would be good to go and take a look at Danny Boyle “Pages of the Sea” thinking this would be just one face everyone was talking about we suddenly saw crowds of people just before we arrived at the face of Sergeant Stanley Robert McDougall VC Anzac.
Families were remembering their own heroes, a stencil placed on the sand then supported by Activate Performing Arts members, they raked the sand to make the shape of a fallen hero. Some wrote names in the sand, others placed a poppy, many carried a photo.
People came together to remember, to talk about their family history, everyone respecting the images and observing in whispered voices.
The Armistice signed that day resulted in WW2, those who took part in WW1 believed it was a War to End all Wars.
I believe there has only ever been one year recorded in our history, where we have not been in conflict.
Linda Stevenson
