The Tribune

After last year’s comprehensive scaling back of the Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday commemorations because of coronavirus, how encouraging it was to see the return to a full range of events throughout Britain this past week. These are sacred moments in the nation’s calendar. Equally, given the significant involvement of the many individual Bahamians who volunteered for service in both World Wars, people locally will surely have been glad to have witnessed the wreath-laying ceremony here at home at the Cenotaph in the Garden of Remembrance on November 11.

In the UK, however, the Remembrance Sunday event at the Cenotaph in central London, which is the traditional focus of the national commemorations, was overshadowed by The Queen’s inability at the last minute to attend because of a sprained back. The Prince of Wales laid a wreath on her behalf. She has expressed her deep disappointment at missing the ceremony, which it is said she considers to be one of her most important annual duties. The Queen has only missed it six times during her long reign. So, understandably, her absence has caused further public concern about her health, not least because she had earlier been advised on medical grounds to take a rest from official duties for a few weeks.

In 2020, the coronavirus rules put a halt to Remembrance Sunday church services and official ceremonies throughout the UK because people were forced to stay at home. But a small national ceremony was held at the Cenotaph as well as a limited service at Westminster Abbey since, in his typically robust way, Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted no virus was going to stop the British people from honouring the memory of “those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom”, including having the customary two-minute silence at 11am.

Remembrance Sunday always falls on the second Sunday in November while Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, is observed on November 11. The two-minute silence is held to mark the end of the First World War at the 11th hour on the morning of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. The Armistice brought to a close four years of bloody conflict that claimed the lives of more than 700,000 members of Britain’s Armed Forces. The poppy became a symbol of remembrance after a poem called “In Flanders Fields” whose author was inspired by the sight of the red poppies surviving in the battlefields despite the devastation of war, with the red signifying bloodshed.

This year, services and ceremonies took place the length and breadth of Britain. The two-minute silence was observed throughout, and tributes were paid to fallen heroes and to those who continue to serve in the Armed Forces, while the ceremonies included the previous level of military representation and restoration of the march by veterans who had been prevented from participating in this way last year. Reportedly, most of the remembrance events attracted large crowds. There are said to be more than 80,000 war memorials in every corner of the UK including some small villages.

An important milestone this year is the 100th Anniversary of the Royal British Legion. It was established in 1921 as a charity to provide financial, social and emotional support to the surviving veterans and their dependants.

The British Legion - Bahamas Branch, previously known as The Bahamas Ex-Servicemen Association - has been led most ably for many years by Adina Munroe-Charlow. Under her direction, the Bahamas Branch not only looks after the diminishing numbers of Bahamian veterans and their families and administers financial assistance grants to them but is also involved in organising the local annual commemorative ceremonies. Having observed her activity in running the Bahamas Branch for some 20 years I believe her dedicated work in helping veterans has been truly admirable. Those interested will no doubt have seen the informative supplement about the Bahamas Branch published by The Tribune on November 11.

Another notable organisation - this time created during wartime - is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission established by Royal Charter in 1917. It is responsible for the commemoration in perpetuity of the 1,700,000 men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two World Wars. The Commission owns the Nassau War Cemetery on Farrington Road and is responsible for its maintenance. After it had become derelict some years ago, it fell to me to organise its renovation on the Commission’s behalf and the maintenance work is now carried out most effectively by Peter Bates’s team from The Signman company.

So, after the paring down of events in 2020, this has been a special year for the Royal British Legion on its 100th anniversary and for commemorating Armistice Day and paying tribute to the fallen on Remembrance Sunday. Long may the Legion prosper – and all concerned will surely wish the Bahamas Branch well in its worthy and important work.

DANGEROUS DAYS

Writing separately on this page about Armistice Day and the end of the First World War – also known as the Great War – prompts a brief look at the causes of that conflict and possible parallels with the current threatening events in eastern Europe in what has been described as the age of feverish anxiety that we live in.

Historians still argue about the underlying causes but they tend to agree that, rather than by design, the Great War started through a series of miscalculations arising from the insecurities of Europe’s political leaders of the time. What is clear is the fateful moment of history - the murder of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne on a visit to Sarajevo in 1914 - set off a chain of events that became unstoppable and eventually led to the outbreak of hostilities.

In summary, Austria-Hungary held Serbia responsible for this heinous act and the latter sought support from its powerful protector, Tsarist Russia. In its turn, Austria was supported by Germany while France was still seething with resentment after defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and Britain had pledged to guarantee Belgium’s independence.

So, a small crisis in the Balkans dragged the big alliances of Britain, France, Belgium and Russia into war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. When German forces advanced westward and were stopped, a stalemate resulted which turned into a four-year war of attrition of trench warfare in Belgium and France with a terrible loss of life.

Against this background, consider the present-day drama unfolding amid growing global tensions. China continues to build up its military power - particularly in the South China Sea - and is sabre-rattling about Taiwan.

In Europe, discontent and conflict have been simmering since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its backing of separatist rebels in the southeast of Ukraine, with the US reportedly warning its European NATO allies that recent mobilisation by Russia could be in preparation for an invasion of that country.

The West and Russia are also at serious odds over the latter’s build-up of troops on the borders with the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Meanwhile, Belarus - situated between the European Union and Russia and its capital Minsk only some 400 miles from its ally Moscow - has become strategically important. The country’s authoritarian leader has precipitated a stand-off with its western EU neighbour, Poland, by encouraging thousands of migrants to gather at its border in an attempt to gain entry to the EU and is now reported to be threatening to cut off its transit supply of gas to Europe. In response, while considering an intensification of existing sanctions, Brussels has accused Belarus of state-sponsored people smuggling and of engineering the humanitarian crisis at the border by flying in migrants and supporting them.

There is now disquiet in the West that Russia could be drawn directly into this, though Putin, who has been railing against the West’s naval presence in the Black Sea, has denied any involvement even while his troops mass near Ukraine and are claimed to have entered Belarus.

Thus, in such a hostile environment there seem to be genuine fears about the possibility of some action by either side that could unintentionally set off a wider conflict. This is a chilling reminder of the fragility of the peace we all tend to take for granted. The UK press may be exaggerating the danger. But, when the head of Britain’s armed forces, General Sir Nick Carter, was quoted at the weekend as saying that in a multi-polar world the UK and US are at the greatest risk of accidental war with Russia at any time since the end of the Cold War in 1991, perhaps people should sit up and take notice.

To the man-in-the street, the Western world more than ever needs strong, decisive leadership in the face of mounting provocation from China and Russia. But Biden is obviously on the wane and his Vice President seems unsuitable to replace him if he is forced suddenly to quit.

Boris Johnson remains in some ways untested in the face of an international crisis and the French President does not inspire confidence while German Chancellor Angela Merkel is about to step down. Sadly, the wag who was wondering, jokingly, why the world was worrying about climate change when new tensions and the risk of war should be of greater concern, may have been making a serious point.

A viable road map

So it is finally over. COP26 was extended by one day until last Saturday for intensive negotiations in order to produce an agreed text of a final agreement forming the new Glasgow Climate Pact. There has been so much international media coverage of this that further comment may be considered superfluous. But, having been writing extensively about climate change in recent weeks and given the importance of the issue to The Bahamas, I wanted to offer brief comment about the final deal and what it means for this country.

Overall, the organisers claim that COP26 has been a success. It was a considerable achievement to get 200 countries together to reach a final agreement which will not satisfy everybody but is a compromise so that the world is heading in the right direction in its efforts to control global warming. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, the Glasgow summit was never going to solve the problems of climate change overnight and large gaps remain between targets and action.

But a significant step forward was the commitment, enshrined in the agreement, to keep the increase of global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels and the establishment of a process - a viable road map - to make progress towards specific targets. Moreover, to maintain such progress, under the UK’s continuing presidency countries will be required to report back regularly on their plans for cutting carbon emissions in the lead-up to the next meeting in Egypt in 2022.

There is insufficient space today for much detail about, for example, the controversy over fossil fuels, in particular coal. But, as far as The Bahamas is concerned, an important outcome is the mention of financing in the text of the final agreement. From what I have read - even though earlier promises by the richer countries to stump up $100 billion annually to help vulnerable developing countries to adapt to climate change have not been met - new funding for use in addressing the threat of loss and damage in connection with rising sea-levels and extreme weather has now been doubled. Specifically, the final COP26 text speaks of commitments to increase significantly financial support through the Adaptation Fund as developed countries are urged to double their support to developing countries by 2025.

I wrote last week about the Prime Minister’s excellent speech at COP26 which has put The Bahamas on the map in relation to climate change. In the words of the UN head of climate change, there has been much progress in many areas and bridges built between good intentions and reasonable actions to lower emissions, increase resilience and provide much-needed finance. Let us hope that The Bahamas will benefit, in particular, from the extra funding that should be made available.