Never forget them

Published on 12/11/2012 00:56

What an impressive mass display of crosses and poppies there was over the weekend at the Scott Monument in Edinburgh to mark the ultimate sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women in the wars of the past hundred years.

We should not forget that many non-Christians were among those who died and were injured.

At its larger cemeteries with more than one thousand graves, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has a prominent non-religious neutral Stone of Remembrance to recognise the diversity of religious and non-religious views among the armed forces that contributed to these war efforts.

What are now India and ­Pakistan, where relatively few are Christian, raised the biggest ­volunteer army in history of 
2.5 million in the Second World War and lost 135,000 dead in both world wars.

These, and others from elsewhere in Asia and Africa as well as the former “dominions”, also deserve remembrance for their contributions to our continued independence and security.

Norman Bonney

Palmerston Place

Edinburgh