Letter: Remembrance

Sir: I do not wear a poppy. In due course, no one will wear poppies.

At the age of 41, I have many reasons to remember the Second World War and those who died. My father, aged 74, was closely involved in the war and draws an invalidity pension as a result. My grandparents were killed by a V-2 rocket and my uncle in an RAF flying accident just after the war.

I do not wear a poppy because, whatever the impact on my life, it was not part of my life. Yes, these people died to make my life easier and I fully acknowledge that, but I cannot turn back and remember a time that I did not know.

At some point, we will stop marking the two world wars in the way we now do, for the simple reason that those with living memory of them will themselves have died. We no longer mark the battles of Waterloo, Hastings or Trafalgar in this personal way. So, too, this shall pass.

My father fought one tyrant and his generation won. My generation must turn to fight the new tyrants.

SIMON C ALLEN

Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire