I’ve blogged before about Remembrance Day: the day when we in the UK remember those who have died defending our country and our values. Every year at this time we honour and remember them and their sacrifice.
But this year our commemoration has been particularly poignant since 2014 is the centenary of the start of the first World War. In London this was marked with a remarkable display of ceramic poppies, placed around the Tower of London.
One for every British soldier who fell in WW1 as well as by the traditional ceremony on Sunday at the Cenotaph where Her Majesty the Queen leads the ceremony.
Here in Budapest (or rather at the Solymár war cemetery) we also held a special remembrance commemoration service. On the beautiful autumnal Sunday morning, with leaves falling gently from the trees, we welcomed Hungarian Defence Minister Csaba Hende to share the occasion with us.
The Minister was kind enough to share a few thoughts with us at the ceremony, pointing out that while our countries may have fought on different sides, we shared common values and common debts to those who died for us. His participation, together with the readings which the South African and Belgian Ambassadors made really brought home the universality of the occasion. And spending time among the graves reminded me how important it is that as we run from one task to another in our daily lives, occasionally we should take the time to reflect on how we got here. And how others have made our world possible.
Lest we forget.
Photos of the ceremony are available on Flickr