We will never forget.

This is John Chalmers: known to his friends as Sandy. Known to my Wee Granny as Dad and my Mum as Pop - her Grandfather. He fought in WWI as a member of the Black Watch. We don't know any details of his time at war but we do know his elder brother was killed. Sandy came home, married his sweetheart Maggie and settled down to start a family.

This on the left is David Barbour: known to his friends as Davie, known to my Dad as Dad and to me as Grandpa. He fought in Italy during WW2. He also came home, married his sweetheart Ina and started a family.

Neither of my forefathers were known to talk much about their experiences during consecutive world wars (I do remember my Grandpa complaining about Italian plumbing til the day he died!) but I'm guessing they weren't much in the kicks and giggles department. I have first hand accounts of the army during the First Gulf War from my spouse. And I think it's important to remember those who returned scarred, those who returned relatively unscathed and those who gave up their chance at starting families so that we could and still can start ours with a degree of freedom. And, yes, to never forget.

P.S. Get those old photos copied and spread around the family, peeps! I did massive amounts of hard-and-digital copying 10 years ago from both sides of my family - catch those stories before they are gone forever!