Paying tribute from a distance
CHELSEA PENSIONERS HONOUR THE FALLEN IN SCALED-BACK REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
THIS weekend Britain observed Remembrance Sunday, when tribute is paid to all those who suffered or died in conflict over the years.
The day is usually marked by a march past the Cenotaph in London, which is joined by dozens of iconic Chelsea Pensioners from the Royal Hospital.
Military personnel and other veterans are also present, as well as The Queen, to pay respects to those who sacrificed their lives for others.
While the mass march was cancelled this year, members of the The Royal Hospital, which lost 10 Chelsea pensioners this year due to complications with coronavirus, took part in the scaled-back national commemoration, as well as holding a socially-distanced Remembrance Day service on its grounds which most pensioners watched from their windows. Just five of the Chelsea Pensioners were still able to march past the Cenotaph on Sunday to remember those who lost their lives.
David Godwin, 68, explained why the Chelsea Pensioners still went ahead with the march, even with reduced numbers.
“The Chelsea Pensioners are iconic figures and we represent the wider veteran community,” Mr Godwin said.
“We’ve got to take part. As vets, we do remember our vets.”
Mr Godwin, an ex-royal military police officer who served 25 years with the Army, stressed that Remembrance Sunday was not just about remembering First and Second World War veterans, but also those who gave their lives in wars or conflicts that are often forgotten such as the Falklands War or in Northern Ireland.
However, because of coronavirus, which Mr Godwin also referred to as a war in itself, he said this was a time to remember the key workers who lost their lives protecting the public.
“You’ll hear a soldier say they’ve been on tour which means they’ve been off to a conflict,” Mr Godwin shared.
He added: “The very first briefing we had by our governor was we’re going on tour, but the enemy this time we won’t see. It’s a virus.
“As soldiers we’re used to fighting enemies but only this enemy has a clinical, medical name, but we still fight it and we still come out the other end.”
Mr Godwin compared his experience fighting conflict in Northern Ireland with the current lockdown, sharing that at only 19 years old he had to stay on a small boat for four months with 16 other men, only being able to come out when someone was bombing or shooting them.
He said that he was trained for that, but most people are not trained for the lockdown experience.
The veteran said: “When I went to Northern Ireland, I was trained by experienced soldiers for that, they passed their training onto me. But I keep thinking about the young single girl in a high rise flat with two pre-school children.
“There must be some really desperate cases out there but they don’t come to the front. How can it be helped?”
Mr Godwin urged the public to remember all those who sacrificed their lives for others and to follow the government guidelines in respect for those who fought for the freedoms we have.
He said: “The people we are remembering are their fathers, their brothers, their uncles, their grandfathers, their great-grandfathers.
“We’re all connected to someone who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Remember them, remember their friends.”