WW1. Celebrate or just quietly remember?

The causes, and the effects of WW1 are taught intensively and well in most secondary schools, at KS3 and above, often incorporating visits to Ypres and the Menin Gate, and study of the war poets. I have seen students return chastened by the experience.

I was much saddened when the poetry of WW1 was removed from the GCSE Certificate by the powers that be, and replaced with something like "poetry from 1918.....(can't remember the detail) The power of that poetry cannot be underestimated.

Reflect, yes. Commemorate, yes. Be grateful, yes. Celebrate, no. It was a wasteful, dreadful war, and the media freedom which we so castigate today would surely have served its purpose had it been prevalent then!

I was interested to read about the Kitchener coin (via Twitter) today. I hadn't known that there was this campaign.

I guess I should add that my grandfather was a young 'Boer rebel' at the time of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), so some of my knowledge of Kitchener is from my grandfather's diaries, which he wrote as an adult from memory, because he went to school for the first time at age 19.

www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/kitchener%C3%A3%C2%A2%C3%A2%C2%82%C2%AC%C3%A2%C2%84%C2%A2s-opinion-concentration-camps

I'm not posting this to be provocative, by the way. It's simply history, and it concerns Lord Kitchener's involvement in South Africa. And nowadays my granddad would have been a freedom fighter

Gonna sign the petition now.

Signed the petition. Gruesome bad taste. Obviously the mint have not consulted many people before making this crass decision.

Does the Royal Mint ever consult about its commemorative coins?

I think that extremely emotive coin sums up admirably why young men felt the need to go and fight in this war. And at the same it illustrates how the more reluctant ones were forced to go.

It in no way glorifies Kitchener. It sums up the mood of the generals and politicians of that time.

Why do people need everything spelt out for them in black and white? Has thinking gone out of fashion completely?

There was some clever psychology behind that poster, and the poor little sods fell for it.

These days the posters have changed but....

It smacks too much of 'them and us'.
Officers from one class, 'rankers'from another ( working men and 'pals').

I think the problem is that many people might look at the image and not understand the nuances jing - I would expect Mr Gove would approve. I rest my case.

this article puts the conflict in a different perspective - from the Australian point of view. And the columnist is right - we should never forget the losses sustained by the ANZAC forces.

I see that the Minister for Tinkering with Education has had a bit of a slap round the back of the head from other Conservatives because of his comments about World War I. They feel that their plans for commemoration – which do include a range of educational projects – are being undermined by his grandstanding. Reading between the lines, I would guess that they find his 1914-style jingoism is doing more harm than good.

Not happy about Lord Kitchener on the £2 coin. Completely insensitive. Kitchener was a very highly experienced army chief who was one of the very few before WW1 to predict the length of the war and massive casualties that it was likely to produce. That did not stop him from firmly directing the British army forward without hesitation into the hideous years of death and injury which followed. Furthermore, his private life was alleged to have been very strange. He is one of the last people I would want to remind me of WW1. I am saddened and disappointed that the government has not realised this, but am not surprised. Cameron has shown his ignorance of our history many times before.

We should quietly remember - just as the Belgians have been doing for nearly 100 years. I think every secondary school child should visit the Menin Gate at least once.