A QUESTION OF FREEDOM
My father's generation was lost to give freedom to the world
Into the maelstrom of World War One he and his kind were hurled.
When the carnage was over and the survivors staggered back
There was little here left for any brave man-jack.
And when World War Two was declared over twenty years on
That generation was called upon and once more to war had gone...
To free the peoples of Europe once again from tyranny and fear
And now - with another lifetime gone - what do we have here?
The freedom that their deeds achieved and at heartbreaking cost
Has given the peoples of Europe just a land mass to be crossed
And whilst so many have been awarded the right to stand alone
Instead they use that freedom to claim this land as their own.
My father and his forebears would wonder what has passed
That has allowed their island home to see a throng so vast
Coming here from all around from lands they fought to save
Would each man really understand from each cold forgotten grave?
M.C. Newberry
Sat 30th Mar 2013 16:02
JC - it was reported recently that, contrary to the view touted today about the UK always being the land of the immigrant, that its homogeneity was, in fact, the reason why we were so effective in war - and that at the time of WW2,we had a mere quarter of a million or so who were identified as immigrant not indigenous.
Centuries before, Queen Eliazabeth 1st had actually
enacted control over immigration in the interest of
the social well-being and stability of her Realm. No
wonder latter-day politicians don't seem keen on history. In my lifetime, the world understood the word "English" and had a conception, often to the point of ridicule, of what it meant. Now, our own politicians seem shit-scared of the word and loath what it represents.
Harry - I don't go with your feeling towards Prince Charles. He seems to me a man who is well aware of the world around him, its problems and its dangers, and he's not afraid to stand up and say his piece to politicians when, as is often the case, they move themselves beyond the public ability to hold them to account. King Edward V11 occupied a similar position under his own mother, and was widely suspected of being lightweight and unfit for purpose as king...until, that is, he proved "them" wrong in no uncertain way, to become a much-loved successful monarch of the people.