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I found myself thinking this morning about just how huge the impact of #WW1 was on those people left at home. It really is almost unimaginable. Let’s just take one example, it could be anybody, but let’s imagine it was you. Here’s a quick thread.
Imagine this headstone is yours. Line up behind it all those people who are in some way or another affected by your death, starting with those who were most hard hit. Who is there?
Parents, siblings, children, close family, friends, colleagues, club members, acquaintances, neighbours, friends of friends, people you see at the shops, who serve you at restaurants. How long is your line? Hundreds? Thousands?
Take that number and multiply it by every headstone here (this is @CWGC Faubourg D’Amiens by the way, so that’s 2670 graves). What’s the number? Now consider that (taking only cemeteries with 100+ burials), there are 600 more like this – in France alone.
Now think of it the other way round. How many times would you find yourself standing in someone else’s line? Sometimes near the front as a family member, sometimes as a friend, sometimes just an acquaintance.
Every time I walk into a @cwgc cemetery these days I try to imagine those lines of loved ones affected by that individual loss stretching out far into the fields on which these men fought and died.
How many of those people in each line do you think ever stood on that spot and visited the grave of that person they once knew? 50? 20? 10? 5? 1? – In most cases we will never know. In this case we probably do – none.
So I will finish with a request if I May: Next time you see the grave of an unknown soldier, whether at home or abroad, stop – say hello. If only for a minutes or even a few seconds. You might just be the first person ever to do so.
