One year at secondary school (and I honestly can't remember what year it was, sorry) a load of us went on a trip to various WW1 locations in France and Belgium. I think I was about 15 at the time - however old I was, I wasn't very mature. I was more interested in buying as much Belgian chocolate as I could, obsessing over a girl and generally acting an idiot. None of it was really sinking in, to be honest.
And then we arrived at Tyne Cot cemetery. To this day it remains the most awe-inspiring place I have ever been to - the size and scale of it is astonishing. I vividly remember standing on my own at one point, doing a full 360 turn and all I could see was headstones - it was like they went on forever, in all directions. And then it hit me - the magnitude of what happened all those years ago, the sheer scale of destruction almost overwhelming. Every single headstone was a man who had died fighting. And that was just one cemetery, and just a Commonwealth one at that. We also went to French and German cemeteries as well. For the rest of the trip, I couldn't shake the huge scale of it all - the impact it had on the world, the total number dead, the years of mourning and hurt, until sadly it all started again 30 years later.
Take a look at this page - and in particular, the grid at the bottom. Have a look at those total casualties - 5.6m French, 1.6m Italian, 6.7m Russian. Scroll up back to the top - "Main Allied countries" - Belgium, Serbia, Portugal, Romania, Greece, Albania, Brazil, Armenia etc. Same for WW2 as well - have a look if you don't know already.
Where is all this going, you wonder? Well, I've just had the misfortune to watch this.
I know you don't want to, but just watch the bit between 2:28 - 3:01. I don't think I've ever heard anything so batshit insane in all of my life. I've watched it about 12 times, and I still cannot believe what they're trying to say. Sorry to hop on the recent Gurkha bandwagon as well, but this page is very interesting. 26 VCs, for brave men with names like Karna Rana, Ganju Lama, Bahadur Pun. Very British names, them.
Some of our MPs have been very naughty recently - we all know that. But if it's a choice between sane people being a bit naughty sometimes, or this insane mob, I know which I would choose. If you vote in the Euro elections, please don't fall for this nonsense. Please vote for anyone but the BNP.
Seeing them attempt to take the 'what would those who fought in WW2 think' line of argument absolutely disgusts me and makes me so angry. Those people died not only to stop invasion but also to fight against the exact kind of ideology that the BNP stands for. Nick Griffin also conveniently fails to mention the millions of people from the British empire who fought for us in WW2.
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