Opinion

Patrick Murphy: Time to recognise Britain's wars for what they were on this remembrance weekend

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy

Patrick Murphy is an Irish News columnist and former director of Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.

On this remembrance weekend, it might be time to recognise Britain's wars for what they were - and not wearing a poppy would be a starting point, says Patrick Murphy
On this remembrance weekend, it might be time to recognise Britain's wars for what they were - and not wearing a poppy would be a starting point, says Patrick Murphy On this remembrance weekend, it might be time to recognise Britain's wars for what they were - and not wearing a poppy would be a starting point, says Patrick Murphy

SHOULD we wear a poppy to honour Britain's war dead? You will have your own opinion on that one, but you might agree that honouring those who died in battle usually infers that they fell in a noble cause.

After all, in war both sides believe they are right.

Britain has contributed to more wars than most and this weekend, over 36 million people will wear poppies, presumably because they believe all Britain's wars were just and justified.

But apart from World War II, the wars were generally based on imperial aggression, which involved invading other countries (including Ireland) to plunder their wealth, exploit their people and steal their natural resources.

Since 1707, Britain has fought about 160 major wars in 171 of the world's 193 countries. That's an average of a new war every two years (which requires a lot of justification).

The poet, Rupert Brooke, reflected this compulsion to occupy other people's countries: "If I should die, think only this of me:/That there's some corner of a foreign field/That is forever England.' (It is ironic that the Scottish and Welsh governments now strongly advise against travel to or from England, which means that there is no longer a corner of even Scotland or Wales that is forever England.)

Anti-war poet, Siegfried Sassoon, referred instead to "jingoism-fuelled war", which often leads to jingoism-fuelled commemorations (and we have our share of those in this part of the world).

Although Britain's military dead are often described as having fought for freedom and democracy, in most cases they fought in their colonies to deny both.

Their tactics included torture in Kenya and Aden, famine in India and murder in Derry on Bloody Sunday.

The grand buildings in many British cities, which mark the backdrop to the annual wreath-laying ceremonies, were largely built with stolen colonial wealth. So it would appear both immoral and unethical to glorify Britain's imperial wars.

The exception was World War II, when Britain fought against fascism, something which merits commemoration.

Mind you, its efforts were helped by the three million colonial subjects recruited to their ranks and the countless numbers press-ganged into service against their will, particularly in Africa. (A King's African Rifles' officer supported this practice in 1940: "The darker their skin, and the more remote parts of Africa they come from - the better soldier they make.")

When the war ended, the colonial subjects became the enemy again.

But if Britain's wars ranged from the immoral to the illegal, should individual soldiers be honoured?

Obviously it is important to respect the dead, whoever they are and it is only human to reflect on the suffering of their friends and families.

In many ways British soldiers are often the victims of the powerful in society. In World War I, for example, they were ordered to walk towards German machine guns and as many as 33,000 soldiers may have suffered from the debilitating illness, Gulf War Syndrome, since 1991.

The British army pledges not to leave its wounded on the battle field. Instead they abandon them when they come home.

A 2019 report identified 3,500 homeless ex-servicemen, most of whom suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and about 2,500 ex-service personnel were imprisoned in 2017 for a variety of offences, largely of a violent nature.

But there are plenty more recruits where they came from. The exploitation of young working class men continues today with the army's 'This is Belonging' recruitment videos, aimed at those with low self-esteem, by offering companionship and "confidence that lasts a life time". (No mention of killing foreigners.)

So on this remembrance weekend, it might be time to recognise Britain's wars for what they were.

Time, too, to compensate their victims across the world and time to provide proper state care, rather than poppy-funded charity, for those now discarded, who unknowingly fought for the wrong thing.

All three will be hard to achieve. Not wearing a poppy might be a good starting point.