Its been 107 years since my grandfathers came back from the war to end all wars, and 80 years since my father and several uncles came back from the next big war while one is interned in Normandy.
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| Malcom Macfarlane |
I doubt if there'll be an end to war in my life time and I rather think HG Wells was right that we should put the politicians and generals in a large room with lots of toy soldiers to fight the wars,
Born and raised in the suburbs of Montreal 7 decades ago. Began playing with toy soldiers at 5 years. Started painting & converting at about 12 yrs and wargaming about 15 yrs. Never really stopped.
5 years in the Black Watch of Canada Cadets, 5 years at the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean followed by 4 in the navy. 25 years with CPC in IT simultaneous with 23 years running a boarding kennel. Inherited my love of toy soldiers from my mother's father. Married with a pack of litle Italian Greyhounds and a cat. Prematurely retired and enjoying leisure to game, maintaining our 170 yr old farmhouse and just living.
Totally agree
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather Adron Thurman remained in the army after World War One and came home safe only to die while still in the service in a wagon accident in Texas. My favorite great uncle, Ike Collum, was haunted by his war experiences in World War One. His job was as an ambulance driver.
ReplyDeleteMaternal grandfather served in WWI, and father and two uncles in WWII. No one ever talked much about the ones who didn't come back--or "never really came back."
ReplyDeleteI like the H.G. Wells approach, but the sad truth is Wells didn't, really. He always loved the idea of a powerful government--run by people who agreed with him, of course. And where you have coercive power, you'll have war. (Without government, you'll have clan feuds and murders. The options in a fallen world are not always what we would wish.)
But somewhere Lord Dunsany has a character mention the--I believe it was 47--pleasures which harmed no one else. I sometimes think of miniature warfare as the 48th.
Ross, as an aside, there is a very nice documentary done on the North Nova Scotia Highlanders on YouTube. I think it was made by the son or grandson of one of the veterans interviewed, but I used it for many years to present to school kids here in Doodle Land about service and the importance of remembering history.
ReplyDeleteHope the storm that just schwacked Vermont isn't doing the same in NS.
Eric