Sir, Remembrance Sunday is the closest the United Kingdom has to a national day: a mass public event that remembers the sacrifices Britons have made for our country and its values. Ninety years after the end of the First World War, when the youngest of those who fought in the Second World War are now in their eighties, it’s time, however, to ask how we ensure that the younger generation continues to identify with the ceremony and the values that it celebrates, and that the event itself links the past to the present in ways that explain the threads of continuity and change.

Sunday’s march past the Cenotaph seemed less successful in achieving these goals than the Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall the previous evening. No recently returned active units from Afghanistan or Iraq were visible, for example; service cadets, representing the future of the country and its services, were at the back rather than the front of the parade. Representatives from the Trucial Oman Scouts, a unit established only in 1951 and never formally under the British Crown, were included, but there were none from the many Commonwealth countries that contributed so much in both world wars. There were a handful of US Marines, and a group from the Foreign Legionaries Association, but sadly none of the Poles who marched last year. The BBC identified representative contingents from the RSPCA, the National Farmers’ Union, Rotary International and the Lions.

Should we not be more systematic in future years, and draw together past contributions with current efforts? We could include representatives from the second- largest contributor of fighting forces to the British imperial efforts from 1939-45, the Indian Army, recognising that this is now the largest provider of peacekeeping forces for the UN. We could invite a Polish contingent recently in Iraq or Afghanistan, or Dutch or Canadian units that continue to face danger, and take casualties, alongside British. And among the non-governmental organisations we might include those that undertake humanitarian work in dangerous conditions in Darfur and the Congo. All these, after all, continue to contribute to the values for which the United Kingdom fought two world wars, and to risk their lives to do so.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

House of Lords, London SW1

Sir, The last Silver War Badge awarded for service in the First World War (report, Nov 8) suggests an opportunity for a grateful nation to honour the young men and women currently fighting on our behalf. Let us show our gratitude to those cruelly injured on our behalf, their courage no less than their forebears, by making a similar award.

John Chester

Winchester, Hants

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