A day of remembrance – and reconciliation

SIR – In 1979 I was the commander of the British contingent of the United Nations Force in Cyprus.

In October of that year the West German ambassador asked me if he could be present at the Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying in Waynes Keep cemetery in the UN buffer zone, as there were German graves there. I told him that he would be most welcome. It was only afterwards that I realised that I should have cleared this with the British High Commissioner, but fortunately he agreed with me.

On Remembrance Sunday the ambassador attended the ceremony in morning suit and laid his wreath with great dignity.

Shortly after he had returned to his place, a Turkish soldier hopped over the wall and went to the war memorial. He laid a bunch of wild flowers that he had picked, saluted and returned to his position outside the cemetery.

West Dean, Wiltshire

SIR – Last Armistice Day, in our village, Peter, a German national born and raised there but now living and working here, played the bagpipes at the service at the war memorial. It was an extraordinary and moving experience; the memory of it stays with me yet.

Inviting the German president to Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph would be a further act of reconciliation.

Pitlochry, Perthshire

SIR – Bedford School was fortunate enough to provide the sole robed choir for the Festival of Remembrance in 2015, the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In the choir were three wonderful German boys, singing beautifully at the heart of a packed Albert Hall.

Coincidentally, that same year, our school cadet force was led by an equally delightful German boy who has continued his relationship with Britain by going on to study at Birmingham University.

The next generation is far more globally aware than ours has ever been. I think it is now time that we looked to them to maintain memories and build peace.

Headmaster, Bedford School