A visit to The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) in Alrewas, Staffordshire sounds like the kind of trip you would make out of a sense of duty rather than by choice. But, on the contrary, the NMA offers such a unique and positive experience that I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone travelling in the English Midlands.
Its location in the heart of Britain and easy travel links makes it a place that is very accessible to visitors from anywhere in the UK. My mother lives in nearby Lichfield, less than half an hour’s drive away; otherwise I’m not sure I would have gone.
In general, I associate war memorials or remembrance day parades with formal displays of pomp and pageantry which merely serve to celebrate military services. They make me think of Eric Bogle‘s memorable song ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’ about the Battle of Gallipoli in which he vividly describes the “mad world of blood, death and fire” and which includes this memorable verse which always brings a lump to my throat:
“But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away
And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me.
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore. They’re tired old heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are they marching for? And I ask myself the same question”.
Remembering forgotten wars in a more positive manner is one of the main purposes of the NMA. Continue reading
