The Fallen Soldier

A slightly different issue in this Blog, but one close to my heart nevertheless.

Being involved with the particular type of work that I do, I find it very ironic indeed that during WW1, between 1914 to 1918, the Germans realized that hypnosis could help treat shell-shock quickly. It allowed soldiers to be return to the trenches almost immediately. A formularized version of hypnosis, autogenic training, was devised by Dr. Schultz.

Which leads me indirectly to the core of this Blog, which revolves around the suffering of so many in WW1 and WW2 .........

In the village of my birth, Jacksdale, in the Midlands of England, stands a memorial to all service personnel who were lost in, or served in, The Great War and World War 2. It was erected at a cost of 440 Pounds in 1921.

In the year of 1959 the stone soldier atop the memorial fell from his position, and was smashed to pieces on the roadway beneath. The circumstances of the incident still remain a mystery. I well remember seeing the shattered stone strewn all about. The loss of this monument, to the brave men who gave their all in some cases, caused great sadness in the village.

Some years ago, citizens of the village got together and decided to raise monies in order to install a 'new' soldier. This took all involved a great deal of time and effort.

Nevertheless, their efforts paid off, and a new soldier was duly sculptured from British stone, and on the 14th June 2009 erected on the original memorial stand.

It appears that the whole village, plus many dignitaries and representatives of all three armed forces attended, as they did originally in 1921. A proud, but solemn day. It stands witness to the fact that when people are motivated by a common cause, little is impossible to accomplish.

A small video stands testament to the act, you may have to cut and paste the following URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHvYvdfqiXk

I am not an advocate of war or conflict, but I believe that the memory of these people should live on in perpetuity, if for nothing else than to remind us of the horror of war. I know many of the surnames on that memorial. Every family in the village was touched in some way by the losses marked thereon.

It warmed my heart to witness the commitment of these people in the land in which I once lived.