Aviation Specials Magazine Never Forget: Remembering Britain’s Armed Forces Back Issue

Though the process had started during the Crimean War, and continued into the South African War, it was the events of World War One which ushered in an era of community and national commemoration, honouring servicemen and women, that had never been witnessed before in Britain.

As well as the hundreds of thousands left physically or mentally scarred by the fighting, those who most felt the pain of the five years of conflict included friends and families of the dead. Figures released by the British Government in 1920 revealed that 956,703 men and women had been killed or died while serving in the army, with a further 39,527 from the Royal Navy and RAF. With these statistics, it is perhaps unsurprising that the war touched literally every community throughout the nation.

It was in this period that the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission began its remarkable work, the Poppy was adopted as a symbol of remembrance, and the Last Post became known to everyone. In this insightful book we explore how, before, during and after the two world wars, service personnel, veterans and civilians alike come together to remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice.