JANE STANLEY, of Meadow­combe Road, Thurlestone, writes:

‘That’s the last time this world will see such a war’

They vowed in 1918

So how could it happen just 20 years on?

What of those years in between?

Still fresh in their minds – the suffering, the pain,

Days never-ending they marched in the rain,

Advancing in darkness, through mist and damp

God, how many more miles till they reached the next camp?

Their dreams were vivid, ­memories still raw

Of the noise from the guns which shook to the core.

The wire – a tangle of metal and mesh,

Bayonets flashed as they tore into flesh.

Shells burst close by them with deafening thud,

Horses died slowly, they sank in the mud.

Folks back at home keeping warm by the fire

How could they know of the cold and the mire?

Of the hunger, exhaustion, of hope’s dying flame

When identified only by rank and by name?

Those who survived it could never forget

That the dead and the wounded were owed such a debt.

Where was their God when they cried in the night?

The darkness so final, the end of their fight.

So sacred is life, so fragile world peace.

Let’s lay down our weapons that conflict may cease.

Why don’t we learn what is wrong, what is right?

We must overcome darkness, together choose light

For this precious earth to evolve, survive

For our children’s children to flourish and thrive.