They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Friday, November 9, 2018
One Minute
The other night my husband and I were sitting in bed, he was browsing Facebook and I was reading a book. We normally listen to some podcasts at night and the other night was no different. I was half listening to the discussion on the use of goats as packing animals when suddenly he paused the podcast. A few moments later it sounded like a ton of cannons going off. I felt mildly annoyed at the change in listening when he suddenly said "one Minute to the hour".
There was a catch, something in his voice that made me pause before telling him to turn that racket down. Suddenly the cannon stopped and he said "the Hour". the silence was deafening after hearing the cannon blasts. It was spooky, I felt a shiver go down my back at the silence, my pulse started to quicken and I felt incredibly uneasy. Suddenly a bird started to sing and my husband said "One minute past the hour" and the recording ended. A few moments later I asked "what was that" and he said "a recording, at 1059hrs on November 11, 1918". "Armistice" I replied. It was a few minutes before I went back to my book and he switched the podcast back on. You can hear the audio here:
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/07/eerie-recording-reveals-moment-the-guns-fell-silent-at-the-end-of-ww1-8114109/?fbclid=IwAR24tk6Gs_M-_WVRnjhEbKocke-aT41o7DoCdPcFjYH6mfi69GtDgtgKGVM
In the past few days I have been trying to find a way to put into words what that recording made me feel. Even now, re-listening to it, knowing what it contains it still makes my heart race and and I can feel tears welling behind my eyes. And the silence afterwards is a sound more profound than any I have ever heard before. A silence that marks the end. The end of a powder keg that erupted and nearly burnt Europe to the ground.
With an estimated 40 million casualties, somewhere between 15 to 19 million killed and a further 23 million wounded. Of the dead over 8 million of them were civilians either caught in the crossfire or who perished of famine or diseases brought about by the war. A war that scarred the landscape, scars that can still be seen in aerial photographs. A war that toppled empires, redrew international boundaries and set the stage for a second deadly conflict 20 years later. A war that decimated families and nearly brought about the end of civilization. Over 2 million soldiers would be declared missing in action, to this day nobody knows where they are buried, their families would have no closure.
I have sat here with sentences turning about in my mind, how do I describe this moment? This first minute of silence after 4 years of slaughter? That first pause, that first moment where we stopped and began to truly assess the damage. The first moment of Remembrance. It's hard to find the right words, it's such a visceral experience to hear that moment when all fell silent. I cannot even begin to imagine what it felt like for those who lived to see it. Everything that they had fought for, strived for and prayed to survive culminated in that first moment of silence. A moment that resonates a century later.
There was a catch, something in his voice that made me pause before telling him to turn that racket down. Suddenly the cannon stopped and he said "the Hour". the silence was deafening after hearing the cannon blasts. It was spooky, I felt a shiver go down my back at the silence, my pulse started to quicken and I felt incredibly uneasy. Suddenly a bird started to sing and my husband said "One minute past the hour" and the recording ended. A few moments later I asked "what was that" and he said "a recording, at 1059hrs on November 11, 1918". "Armistice" I replied. It was a few minutes before I went back to my book and he switched the podcast back on. You can hear the audio here:
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/07/eerie-recording-reveals-moment-the-guns-fell-silent-at-the-end-of-ww1-8114109/?fbclid=IwAR24tk6Gs_M-_WVRnjhEbKocke-aT41o7DoCdPcFjYH6mfi69GtDgtgKGVM
In the past few days I have been trying to find a way to put into words what that recording made me feel. Even now, re-listening to it, knowing what it contains it still makes my heart race and and I can feel tears welling behind my eyes. And the silence afterwards is a sound more profound than any I have ever heard before. A silence that marks the end. The end of a powder keg that erupted and nearly burnt Europe to the ground.
With an estimated 40 million casualties, somewhere between 15 to 19 million killed and a further 23 million wounded. Of the dead over 8 million of them were civilians either caught in the crossfire or who perished of famine or diseases brought about by the war. A war that scarred the landscape, scars that can still be seen in aerial photographs. A war that toppled empires, redrew international boundaries and set the stage for a second deadly conflict 20 years later. A war that decimated families and nearly brought about the end of civilization. Over 2 million soldiers would be declared missing in action, to this day nobody knows where they are buried, their families would have no closure.
I have sat here with sentences turning about in my mind, how do I describe this moment? This first minute of silence after 4 years of slaughter? That first pause, that first moment where we stopped and began to truly assess the damage. The first moment of Remembrance. It's hard to find the right words, it's such a visceral experience to hear that moment when all fell silent. I cannot even begin to imagine what it felt like for those who lived to see it. Everything that they had fought for, strived for and prayed to survive culminated in that first moment of silence. A moment that resonates a century later.
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