Re: Please sign the petition
 

after you've signed it you need to check your emails, and confirm your signature otherwise it wont show up

Re: Please sign the petition
 

a wonderful idea

consider me signed up

Re: Please sign the petition
 

i noticed you already signed it, after i did

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Margaret, I work for DWP and we have a centenarian clerk who's responsible for making sure the individuals are visited and the messages are sent out on time. I think they are sent direct from whitehall. (Mind you I've just given you a hint where I work:D)

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Blimey, those civil servants must have it cushy.;)

Still beavering away at a hundred!:D

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Sounds like an easy number that clerk has - I only made 3 such visits in 35 years - (I suspect the clerk has other duties ;) )

Re: Please sign the petition
 

John Babcock, the last Canadian of WW1, was born in Sydenham village just north of Kingston. He is now an American citizen and lives in Spokane. He was offered a state funeral by the Federal Govt., but he refused.

The whole thing seems like a bit of a publicity stunt. If it honors all those who died and all who fought, in the same way the Unknown Soldier honors those whose graves are marked only with "Known Unto God" then it might be an OK idea.

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Job done. My family lost members during "The war to end all wars" and think it would be a fitting tribute IF the Family of the Last Surviving Serviceman felt it appropriate. I also feel more should be done to educate the youth of today about the ultimate sacrifice many have paid in both World Wars. My nine year old niece is being taught about " Asian culture and History" at primary school and she seems to know very little (if any) about the two world wars. Whilst I don't wish to appear racist, haven't the powers that be lost sight of the isuue here? Multi-culturism is fine, but let's not lose sight or forget the people who fought and died for our privelages.

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Re: Please sign the petition
 

This idea has surfaced before, it took some digging but I eventually located the thread:-

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/f...ral-19608.html

My opinion on the subject is posted below.



"...The passing of the last serving soldier of WW1 should merit a sober and respectful piece in the Times and that should be an end of it. His obsequies should be a private matter for his family and friends; not the occaision for a national circus of mawkish sentimentality.

The dead of WW1 are memorialised throughout the land, their sacrifice and their memory is honoured on Armistice Day and on Remembrance Sunday in the presence of the Monarch and the Royal Family and one of their number, representative of all, has already been accorded a State Funeral and now lies in a place of honour beneath the nave of Westminster Abbey. What purpose would another State Funeral serve, except the political self-agrandisement of a bunch of slimy weasles who would not recognise the concepts of honour, patriotism and self-sacrifice if their lives depended on it?"

Re: Please sign the petition
 

AB I would hope that the last WW1 does get a State Funeral and that it would then serve as a reminder for the brave troops that have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

What purpose would another State Funeral serve, except the political self-aggrandisement of a bunch of slimy weasels who would not recognise the concepts of honour, patriotism and self-sacrifice if their lives depended on it?"

Maybe the people you have stated in the above quote would then be thinking about what they can and should be doing for our troops out there.

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Ber999T,

You miss the point, we already have memorialisation enough, Another state funeral would not improve the situation of those courageous men and women in Iraq and Afaghanistan nor would it cause anything like the required sea-change in the thinking of our political masters. To believe otherwise is naive in the extreme. Another State funeral would have the same impact and would be treated by the media in the same way as the funeral of that dreadful Spencer woman and it would have precisely the opposite effect to the one intended.

The whole thing smacks of obsessively picking at a sore to keep it raw and painful, as if there were something enjoyable in it. You can almost imagine the strap line for the DVD; "WW1, a trauma that you and your family can treasure and enjoy for generations to come. Thrill again and again at the pointless loss of life. Be apalled anew at the brutality of it all. Cry yourself a river at a nation's poignant farewell. Featuring H.M. The Queen, The Massed Bands of the Household Division and a cast of millions."

Re: Please sign the petition
 

AB the thing is of a State Funeral is that a lot of the "young uns" of today don't have a concept of having lost a family member or close friend in combat and while the media would have a field day it may help remind others that even today our troops are being shot at and bombed daily in Iraq and Afganistan and that their Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, etc ARE worried about them while serving overseas.

While my stepson is over there I will be worried just need to get the cost of sending parcels out there sorted now!!!!

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Done it..........with pleasure.

Re: Please sign the petition
 

Petition signed and I feel honoured for having the opportunity to do so. I’m just waiting for the email.

Being the last soldier he becomes the symbol for every service person and civilian that was killed during WWI.

Just as an afterthought. That excellent series “The World At War” should be part of modern history in schools for the foreseeable future at least.