 After 4 years and 3 months of brutal savagery, the guns fell silent on World War I's western front at 11am on 11th of November 1918, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. By then it is estimated that 9 million combatants and 7 million civilians had died as a direct result of the conflict. Today the world pauses to remember the casualties of the war 100 years on. The amnesties, particularly the devastating toll exacted on the pre-war population of Europe. Long people growing up between 1914 and 1918 truly were the generation of the damned. France and Germany lost over 4% of their pre-war population and by some estimates the Ottoman Empire could have lost more than 16%. The wearing of a red paper poppy ahead of amnesties day November 11th, commemoration of the end of the First World War is a symbol resulting from the wild poppies on the battlefields of Flanders, not so far from Brussels, inspiring the 1915 poem in Flanders' fields. It's part of literature inspired by the Great War, despite a century after amnesties that ended World War I, the fighting against evil endures. The sentinel of the end of the Great War is a vivid reminder of the toll taken on populations with millions left dead and the sacrifices paid by many courageous servicemen in the name of freedom. That includes West Indians among them, St. Lucians, who fought gallantly and died on lands a world away. The war to end all wars did not live up to its moniker and 20 years later Adolf Hitler marched into Poland, sparking a second horrific global conflict that would leave Europe in ruins and claim millions of more lives. The freedom and liberty that we enjoy was born out of the post-war international liberal order, underpinned by the multilateral organizations forged to ensure peace. But now they are fixtures to that construct that brought us the transatlantic alliance of shared values. The frame ties us in tomatic of the embrace of right-wing populism and nationalism across the world by a working class fell left behind by globalism. Moreover the existing world order and the building blocks of the international system seem to be increasingly under attack. Surprisingly from world leaders who on paper represent the traditional guardians of that global order. War re-re-populations fatigued by the counter-terrorism battles against radical extremism and interventionism and overwrought with the economic anxiety of income inequality now long for the erection of the wall of xenophobic barriers and protectionism. Despite some pitfalls the post-war order for the large part has presided over 70 years of peace and prosperity. The challenge now is to adapt and make a competing case to avert the sacrifice of future sons and daughters on bloody fields in theaters of war. The English mathematician Alfred Whitehead writes, the art of progress is to preserve order amid change and preserve change amid order. We must remember that World War I did not mean an end to suffering and the scars were internal, evident that by suffering of what was called shell shock now referred today as post-traumatic stress or syndrome. The stories of World War I still have meaning today and we should always be suspicious of leaders who advocate war yet dismiss the reality of death and its lasting consequences. Ladies and gentlemen to welcome you here today to this commemoration I now introduce to you the secretary of the X Commonwealth Service League or the Commonwealth X Service League Mr. Earl Francis. It is an honor and privilege as secretary of the solution branch of the Royal Commonwealth X Service Legion to welcome you to the annual observance of veterans or members day activities. This year 2018 marks the 100th year or century of the end of the First World War 1914-1918 in which 359 solutions served and served three years since the end of the Second World War 1959-1945. The British War Office initially argued that there was Indian soldiers or needed for the defense of their own islands. As the war widened it was argued that they be sent to Egypt to fight the Turks or use a garrison the West African territories captured from Germany. The war office proved indecisive and both and the colonial office insisted the matter be resolved by the other public opinion in the Caribbean was going inquisitively restive however demanding to know why the services of its young men were being rejected King George V who favored the West Indian ported the war office in action and the Secretary of State for War Lord Kitchener agreed to the reason of the West Indians contingent in addition to the already existing West Indies regiment. The London Gazette announced His Majesty the King is graciously pleased to approve the foundation of a corp from contingents of the inhabitants of the West India islands to be entitled the British West Indies regiment. British West Indies regiment recruiting for the new office begun in the autumn of 1915. The main objective of the Royal Cornwall Exhibition is to look after the welfare of solutions, veterans, the widows, widows and the families as well as the need of the ex-servicemen and women who sacrifice their lives for their own country. Most of them are now in the late 80s and 90s and are unable to fend for themselves and are in need of assistance. The price paid by these many young valiant soldiers must not be forgotten or concerned to the recesses of the minds of those who live it as the numbers diminish in the past zone. As we gathered here on this Sunday, on this 11th of the 11th month of the year 2018, let not be convocation be viewed as an academic or ritual exercise in the absence. I must say there are 15,601 men from the colony who went to the First World War. Out of that we had 359 solutions, at least only 59 came back from our contingent. And secondly, the oldest veteran who is still alive who served in Egypt and Italy and worked with Mr. Hain Cyril will be 97 tomorrow and is now in Martinic representing St. Lucia at the French function. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia. An escalation of threats and mobilization orders followed the incident leading by mid-August to the outbreak of World War I which pitted Germany, Austria, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the so-called central powers against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and Japan, the Allied powers. The Allies were joined after 1917 by the United States. The four years of the Great War, as it was then known, saw unprecedented levels of carnage and destruction thanks to grueling trench warfare and the introduction of modern weaponry such as machine guns, tanks and chemical weapons. By the time the war ended in the defeat of the central powers in November of 1918, more than nine million soldiers had been killed and 21 million more wounded. The Treaty of Versailles signed in 1919 determined post-war borders from Europe to the Middle East, established the League of Nations as an international peace organization and punished Germany for its aggression with repatriations and the loss of territory. Tragically, the instability caused by World War I would help make possible the rise of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and would only two decades later lead to a second devastating international conflict. To address you now, ladies and gentlemen, in the absence of the President of the League who is in Martinique, as you have been told before, is past President Mr. Reginald Cherubin. As you know we came here especially to commemorate the First World War and the Second World War. But the First World War, we were hoping that we'll never have another war. I recall when I was in Trinidad on a similar occasion like this. We went to church and we went to pray and at that time it was that famous, show some of you all know him, the famous Finmerrand Archbishop of the Wynald Islands in Trinidad. And at that ceremony, I remember preaching about, there you are, you come here to pray for the war and the civil war, the end of all wars, the 1914-1980 war. And here today you come back here. Are you going to come back in the next 25 years? I hope not. However, I just want to tell you that this humanity is something wrong because there's always quarrel and even here in our own country, St. Lucien. So we must ask the great Lord, the Master, to give us some strength to help us carry on. Now the First World War, we had a few, some of our members of the community who went to give the service. And one such fellow, I don't think many of you all know him yet, he was in Argentina and he left Argentina to go and join the service in England. And he later became Staff Sergeant in the service of the Royal Services Army. And he later on went to Africa, very nice and tall. His name was George Francois, family to the well-known Francois family is here in Solution. Then you had another gentleman, he was Lawrence Johnson, the Johnson's family who had business in town with the family. He died of a plane crash in the Egyptian desert. But there are many others that went, but these I want to just point to let you know that St. Lucien's served in the 1914-18 war. And I don't know about you, but when I was a little boy, I saw a lot of people coming back, came back with broken legs, walking with cock legs, I don't see that now anymore. And I recall that they went to the St. Mary's College a few years ago to give a talk on the Army and what I did and what happened and all that. And as a young boy, when I asked any questions, a young fellow, he came to me and said, did you get shot in your legs? Well, I don't know, either this one or the shot. That time it wasn't shot. So I tell him, no, I have my legs and you come and feel it. And he held my legs and said, oh, I said, I said, with a bandana, I got shot. But I want to tell you that the ex-servicemen did a good job. They were well-liked and respected from all I've read and what I've heard and those who went and gave me some of the experiences they had there. And they came back and they were expecting much and they didn't get it and they got little and it was very disappointing, very disappointing, but the First World War, you had also very disappointing. And I could recall in Grenada, there's a fellow called Tuber, Buzz Butler. He came back from the war and he was very disappointed like him other than a former gang called the Titty Gang and they did a lot of worthless things, you know, broke open people's homes and farms, broke steeling, fruits and all kinds of things and eventually, of course they cut up the land, when she did, I think, a little time in Grenada and then he went to Trinidad and you heard about Buzz Butler, the famous labor union leader. And I think he got his strength from being in the army and he went, he became a member of the parliament, the government of Trinidad and he did a wonderful job for those poor people, particularly the labor leaders, the labor people. So most of us, some of us at least, who have come back from the army, have been trained from the army, have carried on with the discipline that they gave to us and it's very good to know that some of the members of the ex-servicemen held good positions after they came back home. You remember La Cabaner, Dr. La Cabaner, he was in the Air Force and you had many other people who was in the army and came back and served their country. I would like to point out though, for the Caribbean, that we had one of the great leaders of the Caribbean called, he was in Egypt and he became a Prime Minister of Jamaica, nobody remembers him, not Buster Manty, famous to make a name, the son became Prime Minister, Manly. Then you had a Trinidadian, in the Air Force, he was a judge in Africa, he's fast away since, and you had a good friend in Barbados, Aaron Barrow, who also served the Air Force. So you had a lot of people who served and came back and held big posts in the islands, the Caribbean. Now, I don't want to be long because I know you need a little song and I know that you are waiting for that. But I want to ask you please, the rest of us will remain, it will be very nice if you continue or if you did contribution to help some of the families, the old wives and some of the old boys like me. And I'm also pleased to think of, as we said in the famous quote, remember us, remember us, remember us. And we now ask everybody to sing a well-known song, yes, I want everybody to get together so we can sing, I don't want to sing only, I want everybody to sing. And it is called, We Are All Together Again, page 13. Ready? I want to hear your voice, I don't want to hear mine. We are all together again, we are, we are all together again, we are here, we are here. And who knows us, we are all together again, we are here. Before they were lit, the two vessels had been lit up. Supplies for the island's American garrison were being unloaded that night and the quayside had been brightly illuminated as if it were peacetime. Thankfully, a third ship, a highly inflammable oil tanker, had its lights turned off and had not been seen. Before the American troops could react, the attackers were on their way back to open sea. You 161, which had been unable to submerge because of the shallow water, had sailed the past, the coastal lookout lined up its targets and fired two torpedoes before making its escape on the surface. As it run back through the channel, a single machine gun opened fire, a stream of bullets stabbed into the darkness, but the raiders were already gone and the war had come home to St. Lucia. Ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, to address you now, the Honourable Alan Shastney. Every year at this time, we in St. Lucia join others in the rest of the free world to honour and pay our respects to those who sacrificed their lives for us in two world wars. The occasion is aptly referred to as Remembrance Day and this year's commemoration has added significance as it marks the 100th anniversary of the ending of the First World War. In most instances, it is a sacrifice that has done so exactly 100 years ago this Sunday. A treaty came into force, ending fighting on land, sea, and air between allies and their opponent, Germany. 100 years later, Remembrance Day continues to be an occasion for great international nostalgia. As we re-enact somewhat that moment in time when nations stood toe-to-toe to defeat a mighty enemy, it was a costly conflict that resulted in more than 15 million fatalities. The Gospel of John in the Bible says that there is no greater love a man can show than by laying down his life for his friends. In the case of war, however, the sentiment goes much further since soldiers from various countries come together and give their lives for others who are in reality not even their friends. In most instances, it is a sacrifice that is done so that people or a country can be free from the threats of oppression, piracy, injustice sought to be imposed by others. The significance of those two great conflicts should never be lost on us. They are causes worth fighting for. Huge ceremonies are taking place throughout Europe and the rest of the world this Sunday as all friends and enemies come together to remember these conflicts and the sacrifices both human and national that were made in the cause of peace and freedom. Here in Solution, we should guard these annual gatherings with more than just passing interests or just another item on our calendar of events. I make this point to draw attention to the part played by solutions in both world wars. I do not believe that we have ever in this country paid adequate tribute to our countrymen and women who not only served in these conflicts but in fact lost their lives on the battlefields of faraway places fighting for the freedom that we enjoy today. Had they not made this sacrifice and helped our lives may have been vastly different from what it is today. So on this Remembrance Day, as indeed on every Remembrance Day in the future, all of us must ponder and recognize those solutions who died for our sake. Their names are etched on the mural that stands in Derrick Walcott Square, but how many of us know of them? All told, 359 solutions were among more than 15,000 West Indians enlisted in the British Army. All the evidence indicates that solutions served bravely. There are still a handful of World War II veterans among us. Their welfare is part of the portfolio of the Solution X Service League. Every year we sell poppies as part of the fundraising efforts for our war veterans and to assist their dependents, widows and orphans. But we could never pay back enough for the sacrifices which these men and women made on our behalf. Our respect should be more than the sale of poppies or a moment of silence in their honor. Maybe we should cherish their sacrifice by making a determined effort ourselves to live in peace and harmony. One with the other because it is the lack of understanding and cooperation among men and women which breeds war and conflict. You must always remember that our welfare as a people is forever entwined in that there is a greater merit in seeking unity and consensus rather than confusion and chaos. If there is one conclusion in all this, it is in the often expressed hope that good always triumphs over evil. On this Remembrance Day let us resolve first and foremost to forever foster peace among ourselves, to seek friendship and harmony at all times and then attempt to replicate these principles in our Caribbean region and the rest of the world. I am truly humbled by today's events and I thank you once again on behalf of the government for your service to your country and to the world. I don't want too much talking so we want to sing again. We're going to sing Pack Up Your Troubles in an old kid bag but we're just singing the chorus. Okay? That's a stage four. Pack Up Your Troubles in an old kid bag and smile, smile, smile. Water's infertilite, you're fire, smile boy, smile the star. What's new software in it never worth that worth so. Pack Up Your Troubles in an old kid bag and smile, smile. Smile, smile. No, we want another one of course. Let us have another one. Pack Up Your Troubles in an old kid bag and smile, smile. Yes, I want to hear you. Water's infertilite, you're fire, smile boy, smile the star. What's new software in it never worth that worth so. That is my great privilege to be here today to join you for the annual reunion of the St. Lucia X service. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. the victory that helped shape the rights and privileges we all enjoy today. People will ring bells around the UK and the rest of the world, as the British government, in collaboration with the German government, joined to replicate the spontaneous outpouring of relief that took place in 1918. As news of the armistice spread, church bells which had fallen silent across the UK during the First World War rang out in celebration. I am pleased to be able to tell you that this week our international development secretary announced that through UK aid, over 7,000 veterans of the Commonwealth who served the British Armed Forces and their widows and their widowers, in over 30 countries including St Lucia, will from now on receive regular cash transfers to ensure that they will have two square meals a day, every day. The programme will be delivered through the Royal Commonwealth Ex-Services League, a charity which has been supporting veterans who served the British Crown for almost 100 years. The Secretary of State for International Development, Penny Mordant, said, and I quote, We owe a tremendous amount to these Commonwealth veterans. It is absolutely right to make this commitment. I think the British public would approve of us pledging this support because of the sacrifices the Commonwealth veterans have made and because of the debt of gratitude we owe to them. Our Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is also marking the World War I Centenary by lending his support to the Forces Charity, there but not there, to honour over 3 million Commonwealth soldiers, sailors, airmen and labourers who served. There but not there will install three 6 feet figures of First World War soldiers in the Foreign Office to represent the contribution of Commonwealth servicemen from the Caribbean, also from Africa, Asia, Australia and Canada, to remind us of the stories of our Commonwealth heroes. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said, it is fitting that in this centenary year of the First World War we honour the immense contribution of our Commonwealth soldiers. Their bravery was key to securing the Allied victory. These men fought thousands of miles from their homeland for a country they had never been to but for a purpose that they believed in. This installation will honour their heroism. Today of course there remain threats to global peace and stability in the UK, across wider Europe and globally. As we collectively seek to defeat those threats we do so able to draw upon the experience, example and inspiration of those who have gone before. Much of the world is free today because of the sacrifices made by our predecessors. Many will enjoy freedom into the future because of the sacrifices made by military, police and civilian personnel deployed around the world today. And today as we remember we must focus not just on the fact that they fought but why they fought and why those who strive to protect our freedom today to enable people to live in a society that benefits from peace, security, opportunity and prosperity. Servicemen and servicemen have served across the years to create a society fit for all. In turn, that society should welcome, support and protect our veterans when their service is complete. It is our responsibility to ensure that not only do we remember but that we take the opportunities created to develop a better society for the future, a society that creates opportunity for all and one that values our veterans. They are proud of their tradition and service, it is important that we are too. To say the words, lest we forget, is easy. To ensure we live up to those words is less so. It is right that we honour the memory of those who lost their lives and offer thanks for the service, loyalty and sacrifice of those who have fought for the freedoms we enjoy today and those whose service will continue to provide peace for others into the future. For the many Sintlutions and other Caribbean service personnel in Her Majesty's forces today, playing a vital role alongside other Commonwealth recruits in modern-day conflicts and especially in humanitarian relief efforts such as we saw last year in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. A sincere thank you goes to the former president as well and all of the staff of the Sintlutia X Services Legion for the excellent work they continue to do in supporting Sintlutian veterans and their dependents. I can't help, but you know during the war, you were so inspired by a great man, one of the greatest archers in our time, Winston Churchill. I think everybody heard that, I heard everybody heard that name, and I always remember after the matching up of London and Los Angeles, and they formed the Arab back together. Me, that's wonderful speech, saving London, saving England from invasion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. And now I ask everybody to sing a good old song. It is called, The Whitetas of Dover. You know the Whitetas of Dover? All right, we only sing it. Let's start page 11, page 11. I think everybody knows that song. There's a blue bird over the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow just you wait and see. There'll be love when it's after, and we'll see it after, tomorrow when the world is free. The shepherd is still in the sheep, and the body is in the room again, and Donny will go to sleep in his own room again. The road is over, the white cliffs of Dover, tomorrow just you wait and see. Thank you. In flamboyant fields the poppies blow, between the crosses row on row that mark our place, and in the sky the larks still bravely sing in fly, scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead, short days ago we lived, fell to dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in flamboyant fields. Take up our crawl with the foe, to you from failing hands we throw, the torch, be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep, though poppies grow in flamboyant fields. The anniversaries of these extraordinary battles in an extraordinary war, fought by men of extraordinary bravery, defined the fate of all humanity. The war to end all wars saw the disappearance of empire, and the Second World War ended Europe's imperial project with the rise of the American global power. Ladies and gentlemen, the French ambassador to address you now. It's with a keen and also a particular emotion that I am participating in this year's Remembrance Day celebrations. A keen emotion because I am deeply convinced that we have a duty to remember, both in order to pay tribute to those who fought and died for us to be free, and also to avoid history repeated in itself. The younger generation need to know what happened, and they must pass on that knowledge to their dissented relatives. Memory must be kept alive to avoid temptation, to repeat the mistakes that led to the worst tragedies that humanity has ever known. So it is our duty to remember Saint Lucia's commitment to freedom, to remember the sacrifices and the important role played by Saint Lucia in winning World War II. And this, especially at a time where, inevitably, the number of survivors is sharply decreasing. How could we not also remember the dissidence which is part of the resistance movement and belongs to the history of the French national resistance? The dissidence is indeed a beautiful page of intertwined history between France and Saint Lucia. When thousands of dissidents from Martinique came here where they received and found assistance and protection. The fabulous adventure of those dissidents who refused to surrender, who chose freedom and joined the free French forces, the beautiful adventure would not have been possible without Saint Lucia's help and its warm welcome, assistance and protection. So Your Excellency the Governor General, Honorable Prime Minister, I want to express the sincere gratitude of the government and the people of France through you, to the people of Saint Lucia for all that. But this year is obviously particular because as you all know, November 11 marks the century of the end of the First World War which ravaged all Europe and parts of the world from July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918. Concluded with the military victory of the Allies, the First World War, dubbed the Great War, left a terrible record on the human, social, political, diplomatic and cultural life. Actually humanity had never experienced such a terrible losses in a single war. 22.5 million dead, wounded or missing from the Allies and almost 17 million from the Central Empires. It cannot be repeated enough that we must learn from those sad pages of history. We must learn from the First and the Second World War, which are the most emblematic part of the 20th century massacres. But we must also learn the lessons of a horrible fact. Death casualties in wars and conflicts during the 20th century are estimated at 231 million. And because peace is fragile, because the risk of division, nationalism, inward-looking attitudes seems to be gaining ground and could cause democracy to doubt itself. The peace forum currently taking place in Paris has one goal, to take concrete initiatives to reinvent multilateralism and all modern forms of cooperation. And the purpose of this is to ensure that again peace can gain ground every day. So for the sake of peace in the world, let's hope that the summit will be successful. Thank you for your attention. Part of my blood is fresh. You know that? My great-grandfather, Martinique, and you know the name of Cherubin. Yes, it's wonderful to hear that kind of cooperation between the Allies. And I'm very happy to tell you the dissidents. I can't give you the history, but I can just say the part, the dissidents from Martinique. Coming over here, and his solutions, just go out to put their arms around them and help them. And you go, I think, to cool them. And it's wonderful, I think, up to now, Martinique and St. Lucia. I think they should have one government. Somebody kill me. So we sing a nice song. I think everybody likes it. It's so smooth and nice. It's page 12. My body lies over the ocean. I think everybody knows that. I think you know it in French too. My body lies over the ocean. My body lies over the sea. My body lies over the ocean. Oh, bring back my body to me, bring back, bring back. Oh, bring back my body to me, bring back my body to me. To peace, life, and prosperity. Ladies and gentlemen, let us drink. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. Hey, baby. The annihilation of 6 million Jews in Nazi death camps. Before it was over more than 60,000 or 60 million people had lost their lives. And the world entered the nuclear age when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in 1945.