COMMENTARY

ONE of the more moving moments at last night’s Festival of Remembrance, performed before the Queen and members of the Royal Family, was not so much about the Armed Forces as it was about children.

It concerned the starving children during the Berlin Blockade 70 years ago, and the aviators from seven Western Allies who provided them with humanitarian relief – a staggering achievement involving a flight every two minutes without pause for 323 days.

Combined, they kept the city alive with 2.5 million tons of coal, food, medicine – and candy.

One US Air Force pilot, Col Gail Halvorsen, was so moved by the plight of the starving children he decided to bring them sweets.

He became known as the “Candy Bomber” and he is to be honoured. One of those children recalled: “It wasn’t the chocolate that was most important. what it meant was that someone cared. It represented hope.”

At the heart of Remembrance is the opportunity to recall and give thanks for the service and sacrifice of Her Majesty’s Forces. when we fall silent in their memory, we honour their defence of our democratic freedoms and way of life.

But there is room in our hearts to remember the wider human cost of conflict, including the innocent victims of war and terrorism.

A dedication was made last year at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, to the British victims of terrorism abroad. A letter arrived from a young mother who had lost her husband in one such attack.

She now finds solace there. “[His] body was never returned to me,” she said. “Now we have a peaceful and tranquil place to go.”

Memorials are set in stone, but Remembrance is a living thing. It constantly evolves to reflect attitudes and concerns.

The Legion has used clearer language to say it is a time when we reflect on our Armed Forces specifically, but not exclusively. It is also a time to think about all lives lost in war – and to commit ourselves to a peaceful future.