I’m writing this blog piece at 03:27 in the morning at Yerevan Airport, Armenia on 11 November 2017.
I’ve been in Armenia with the Council of Europe for 2 days contributing to a conference celebrating their local government reforms and encouraging them to go further in their push for devolution and decentralisation. They wanted to hear how devolution was going in England - that's why I was there.
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| Armenian War Memorial, Yerevan |
From my earliest days I’ve attended remembrance commemorations. I make it my business, where ever I am to attend local commemorations.
Knowing that I would be in Yerevan I contacted the UK ambassador to Armenia and enquired where it would be appropriate for me to lay poppies. The ambassador suggested that I lay them at Armenia’s eternal flame - what she didn’t tell me, but what I found out, was that the eternal flame was in front of a huge war memorial, flanked by Soviet tanks and planes. That huge memorial also contains Armenia’s war museum. I walked to the memorial with Udo - a German journalist who was also at the conference.
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| Placing poppies at the eternal flame, Yerevan, Armenia |
I’m used to walking around war museums and being grateful that I am looking at historic artefacts. This was something different - I was looking at the belongings of people who had died - and these were people younger than me. The brutality of the recent conflict was really brought home.
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| T34 Tank - Soviet Union WWII era tank |
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| Soviet commemoration |
Amongst those exhibits which understandably were largely about Soviet battles in World War II in Armenia there was a wall commemorating Armenian pilots who fought and died with the RAF in the Battle of Britain. I didn’t expect to see RAF medals and squadron memorabilia in Yerevan - but there they were.
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| Commemorating Armenians who fought and died fighting in the Battle of Britain |
The squadron shield and badge comes from No XVII Squadron RAF. This Squadron can trace its origins back to World War I. In June 1939 the Squadron was equipped with Hurricanes and saw action first over France and the Low Countries before being one of the last units evacuated from France in May 1940. No XVII Squadron was then heavily engaged over the south of England during the Battle of Britain.
We will remember them.
We must remember all who suffered in war and those who fought for the freedoms we enjoy.