South Yorkshire Times, November 3rd 1933
Armistice Parades
Militarist Or Pacifist?
Thurnscoe Discussion
Sharply divided views on Armistice Day parades and services were expressed at the meeting of the Thurnscoe Urban Council on Tuesday, but the Council decided to hold the usual service.
Mr. E. F. Heal asked if they were going to make their usual arrangements for a service in the Cinema and to invite all denominations and representative bodies.
Mr. J. Parker thought they ought.
Mr. W. M. Starkey said it was rather queer to him to hold such services in view of the state, not only of their own but of all other countries. They had been keeping that day in remembrance for years, in the hope that it would bring peace. Instead, all they read of was Armaments, Armaments, Armaments! He wondered whether Armistice Day was making any impression on their statesmen, or even on the common people. War was in the air, was talked of on every hand, till they began to believe it was upon them. If anything could be done to develop the spirit of peace, he would be willing to join in, but under present conditions he felt the whole thing was a complete mockery.
Tending To Forget
Mr. H. Garwood regretted the growing tendency to forget the sacrifices made in the war, and hoped the Council would not encourage that tendency. Not only did they owe it to those who gave their lives for what they believed to be the cause of humanity and the protection of the nation, but to the relatives of those who lost loved ones. He thought the Council should do all possible to keep warm the memory of those who died.
Mr. Parker agreed that it seemed very queer to be holding Armistice services this year within sound of munitions factories in full swing, but he agreed with Mr. Garwood that they should hold their service as usual, if it would help to encourage the feeling of peace, and to help those who had lost dear ones. They should apply for the use of the Cinema on Nov. 12th, and he hoped as many as possible would attend.
Military Occasions
The Chairman (Mr. W. H. Mabin) said the thing he did not like about those services was the interest taken in them by those identified with militarism, and he was terribly afraid the services did tend to perpetuate militarism. The best way to honour the dead was to do all in their power to safeguard those left behind.
Mr. J. Williams said the services were a mockery to the dead. He would be in favour of attending if ministers of religion would do all in their power to fight for peace. The mockery was that to-day, with no work for millions of people, they had to wait for the manufacture of munitions to destroy life, before they could find some of them employment.
Peace At Any Price
Mr. J. Hughes said the dead would not be forgotten. If the giving of the time occupied by the service, and of the minutes to the memory of the sacrifice of the dead, would spread the spirit of peace, he would be only too willing also, if they could get ministers of religion to do a little more in the cause of peace. More time should be given to the needs of the living. He had been going through lists that day, comparing the sizes of families and their service in camps, figures which made one gasp after all these years of “peace.” They should do something definite to ensure real peace; by non-recruitment, for example. If there were no soldiers there would be nobody to kill or be killed. Peace at any price was his idea. If there were neither present state nor winning the war, they could not be any better by fighting another; and if they lost they could not be any worse. Armistice parades were purely a military spectacle. That was bound to excite the young. If they carried out the observations entirely in the spirit of peace, he was all for them: but as things were, it was nothing but great mockery.
Mr. Starkey: We are simply bolstering up a rotten imperialism.
The Drums And Bugles
Mr. C. R. Turner said they certainly should consider whether the service achieved its object. From experience he knew that a great many of those for whom the services were primarily held suffered more on that day than at any other time during the year, at the sound of bugles and drums. He would not like it to be thought he lacked respect for the dead, or sympathy for those left behind, but he felt they were doing more harm than good by those ceremonies also. He knew many people who were glad when it was over.