I Will Not Forget

Sgt. George S. Ellis. Royal Engineers (A True Scot)

This old worn out photograph, it’s all I have to remember my father; it’s all I ever had in fact. He was killed in action in North Africa just six weeks after I was born, we never met. This photograph was my father, I had nothing else.

The man in uniform was a mystery to me for the most part; my mother was always reluctant to talk about him because it brought tears to her eyes and a tremble to her lips. She stayed true to him throughout her life and never remarried and I think her sacrifice was far greater; her loss must have been staggering to live out her life without him.

The uniform was all the suite of cloths my father had, he was photographed in them, he was married in them, he went off to war in them, and he was killed and buried in them somewhere in Tunisia, a long way from the warmth of his home fire, a long way from his family and Country, and a long way from the affections of his loving wife and children.

I think about him all the time but especially around this time of year, November 11th, and on this morning I make my way to the local Cenotaph to observe Remembrance Day. I share this moment with countless others, most I’ve never seen before, but we all endure our grief together in silence. In this moment we are all one family, remembering our loved ones with the deepest regret and sorrow, and no matter whether we are from this country or foreign, we join in this special moment as one.

I used to think it was all a huge mix-up and that my dad was still alive somewhere in the world trying to get home, and that one day he would just appear. Lately this thought has changed to “what if he were still alive today, what would he be like”? I watch the older veterans, few and fewer each passing year as they march proudly past, wishing one of them could be him.

It’s always with mixed feelings and sadness I consider the ultimate sacrifice of my father, and it’s the same for all other solders lost, or should I say hero’s lost? I will not forget…

By: John S. Ellis
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(The following video clip was taken in Victoria BC, Canada during the Remembrance Day celebrations, 2007) ...

Remembrance Day 2007