Writer missed my point

MR C Swabey (Opinions & Letters November 21) appears to have totally missed the point of my letter published the week before – namely, that at the proper time on Remembrance Sunday there was no formal ceremony at our war memorial.

I also take strong issue with his comments suggesting that had I been facing death, I might have discovered a closer relationship with God and that I have elevated civic dignitaries to the status of deity.

Had I been in the trenches I think it highly likely that I would have had a similar experience to that of many hundreds of thousands of soldiers then and since; a realisation that there was no interventionist God. That soldiers came home at all was, I believe, mainly down to luck and, occasionally, some good soldiering; unless of course Mr Swabey is suggesting that there is a God who selects those to save based on relationship depth?

As to my elevating civic dignitaries to the status of deity; what nonsense (though some may see themselves on such a level).

To inform Mr Swabey: “civic dignitaries” are people who represent the wider community and, on Remembrance Sunday include more than just political figures – or does he not consider representatives from the forces, Guides, Scouts, WI, schools, charities etc to be worthy of such respect?

The annual London ceremony may have been led by a Christian and attended by the Queen but it takes place at the Cenotaph (not in any church with a religious service) at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th Month… Not some arbitrary time later. S Burton Springfield Avenue