Two Minute Silence Rant

Equaliser123

Nobody should be told what to do - agreed.

But equally, people should respect the right of others to observe it.

Some of the scenes by "anti-British" mobs yesterday were deeply disturbing and I wonder why nobody was arrested.

Col7777

I remember at work once during the 2 min silence one of our senior managers came on the radio (hand held walkie talkie), I switched mine off but others left theirs on not expecting a transmission, the manager got no answer and kept on calling, others started to switch the radio off too as to silence him. I believe he was spoken to later, he apparently forgot, I understood this as sometimes at work as mentioned in posts above you get so busy you lose track on time.

I always do it out of respect, I had a great uncle who won the VC in the great war and I think of him during those 2 mins.
I remember talking to a man I worked with once who was in the battle of Arnhem, he told me of how horrific it was, he saw his best freind get blown up and men lose limbs who were stood right next to him.
I'm sure many of you have family members you have lost and/or survived and told you horrific stories, some we can't even imagine, so to to spare 2 minutes for those heroes is nothing.
As you all know it is still happening today, in the news we hear of another soldier who has lost his life for our country or better still for YOU.

spadoosh

Col7777 wrote: »

I remember at work once during the 2 min silence one of our senior managers came on the radio (hand held walkie talkie), I switched mine off but others left theirs on not expecting a transmission, the manager got no answer and kept on calling, others started to switch the radio off too as to silence him. I believe he was spoken to later, he apparently forgot, I understood this as sometimes at work as mentioned in posts above you get so busy you lose track on time.

This kind of situation just really annoys me. I think everyone should remember fallen hero's but not at the expense of someone else. You witched off the radio to your manager!? what if it was an emergency.

I tihnk everyon who chose to observe the silence by ignoring what their contractual meant to do (ie at work) should be docked 2 minutes wages and given a disciplinary.

Just would like to make the point again. If you were being rushed to hospital and the doctor said 'hold on a couple of minutes just having a moments silence' and you died you wouldnt be happy!!

Everyone should show their respect (if they have any for the cause) put please people in your own time and not on the back of being told you should at a certain time to the inconvenience of everyone.

Well atleast i suppose you can all forget about it untill next year ay!?!

margaretclare

msfoxymax wrote: »

To answer your 1st two questions

Remembrance - The two minutes silence
'The two minutes' silence to commemorate the first anniversary of the ceasefire of 11 o'clock on 11 November 1918 was almost as much of a surprise to the general public as the ceasefire itself had been. The decision to mark the first anniversary of the Armistice with a silent pause in the life of the nation was taken very close to the anniversary itself.'The origins of the silence can be found in a minute dated 4 November 1919, submitted to Lord Milner for the consideration of the War Cabinet by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, former British High Commissioner to the Dominion of South Africa, His son had been killed in France in 1917. He wrote: 'In the hearts of our people there is a real desire to find some lasting expression of their feeling for those who gave their lives in the war. They want something done now while the memories of sacrifice are in the minds of all; for there is the dread - too well grounded in experience - that those who have gone will not always be first in the thoughts of all, and that when the fruits of their sacrifice become our daily bread, there will be few occasions to remind us of what we realise so clearly today.

During the War, we in South Africa observed what we called the "Three minutes' pause " At noon each day, all work, all talk and all movement were suspended for three minutes that we might concentrate as one in thinking of those - the living and the dead - who had pledged and given themselves for all that we believe in…

Silence, complete and arresting, closed upon the city - the moving, aweinspiring silence of a great Cathedral where the smallest sound must seem a sacrilege… Only those who have felt it can understand the overmastering effect in action and reaction of a multitude moved suddenly to one thought and one purpose.'

The War Cabinet discussed Fitzpatrick's proposal on 5 November and approved a 'Service of Silence' on Armistice Day. Lord Milner was placed in charge of making the arrangements. The only amendment the Cabinet made was to amend the duration to one minute, - subject to approval from the King. (The precedent for a minute's silence can be found in the silence observed at Theodore Roosevelt's funeral that same year). Milner drafted a 'personal request' for the King and took it to Buckingham Palace. The King discussed it with his private secretary Lord Stamfordham and altered the duration of the silence to two minutes. Milner then arranged for the release of the finalised draft to the Dominions and the press. It was carried by all national newspapers on 7 November 1919:

'Tuesday next, November 11, is the first anniversary of the Armistice, which stayed the world wide carnage of the four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and Freedom. I believe that my people in every part of the Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of the Great Deliverance, and of those who have laid down their lives to achieve it. To afford an opportunity for the universal expression of this feeling, it is my desire and hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of our normal activities. No elaborate organisation appears to be required. At a given signal, which can easily be arranged to suit the circumstances of the locality, I believe that we shall gladly interrupt our business and pleasure, whatever it may be and unite in this simple service of Silence and Remembrance'.

The silence was well observed the length and breadth of the UK. 'For two minutes after the hour of eleven had struck yesterday morning Plymouth stood inanimate with the nation… Two minutes before the hour the maroons boomed out their warning in one long drawn out note… As the hour struck a great silence swept over the town. People halted in their walks, chatter ceased as if by magic, traffic stopped and the rumbling note of industry stayed'.A tradition had been established.

Just out of curiosity are you british?

No. I'm English.

geri1965_2

spadoosh wrote: »

I tihnk everyon who chose to observe the silence by ignoring what their contractual meant to do (ie at work) should be docked 2 minutes wages and given a disciplinary.

What a loon.

Col7777

This kind of situation just really annoys me. I think everyone should remember fallen hero's but not at the expense of someone else. You witched off the radio to your manager!? what if it was an emergency.

In some cases you are right but the place I worked we have an emergency service where by picking up the phone you get them right away and not by using the radio, plus what the manager was transmitting was not an emergency.

msfoxymax

margaretclare wrote: »

No. I'm English.

Oh !!!!!! :doh:

msfoxymax

margaretclare wrote: »

No. I'm English.

Oh and unless i've lost my memory i don't think i was asking you anyway but nice to know :rotfl:

esuhl

msfoxymax wrote: »

To answer your 1st two questions...

That's what I thought - completely arbitrary.

msfoxymax wrote: »

Just our of curiousity are you british?

I was certainly born within the accepted political boundary of Britain. I'm not a fan of labels, though (although they can be a convenient short-hand on occasion). Throughout history, many wars have been fought to determine the placement of imaginary lines on maps and who ought to have power over whom. At the end of the day, "might is right", and any sense of nationality would presumably require me to accept the validity of all sorts of immoral brutality throughout the ages. Of course it's often easiest to put the philosophy to one side and pretend that "Britain" isn't just an imaginary concept most of the time!

margaretclare wrote: »

No. I'm English.

If you accept the label/definition of being English, surely it follows that you accept that you are also British?! England is by definition a part of Britain. If you look at set theory, being "English" would be considered a subset of being "British".

rolleypolleypud wrote: »

...isn't this two minutes silence just a little way to say we are gratful you did this and we remember the sacrifices you had to made?

No; I don't think it is. It seems meaningless to "say" to dead people that I am grateful to them by standing still in a supermarket for 2 minutes each year. It would be like thanking my former school teachers by hopping down the road backwards for 18 seconds at 4.27pm on the 11 January - I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be aware of my actions, and even if they were, I'm not sure they'd appreciate the gesture.

Isn't it the sincere act/state of being thankful that's important, and not an arbitrary action to which I choose to perform in public in the hope that I can improve my social standing as others will see me demonstrating how virtuous I am. Remembrance should not involve putting on a show for others in the supermarket or while you are at work!

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Nobody should be told what to do - agreed.

But equally, people should respect the right of others to observe it.

Absolutely. Toleration of each others' foibles is the best approach to ensure that we live in a peaceful, undivided society.

suited-aces

Lower_North wrote: »

I wonder if those Heros in the City followed the two minutes silence, or were they too busy making their fortune and forgetting either our troops or us who bailed them out

You wanted a two minutes silence for taxpayers?