BY LORETTA B MANELE
Speaking at the ceremony, British High Commissioner to Solomon Islands, Paul Turner highlighted that we should not take peace for granted.
He expressed that the occasion is observed across Britain and the Commonwealth to honour the men and women who served, suffered and sacrificed in times of war and conflict.
“Each year, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we pause to remember. The end of the First World War was declared when the guns fell silent at 11am on 11 November 1918. Since then, this day has become a powerful symbol of reflection, gratitude, and unity,” said Turner.
He said “Remembrance Day” is a call to live our lives with compassion and to stand against injustice and aggression.
The High Commissioner emphasised that today, this message is more pertinent than ever.
“Today, the message of the Remembrance Day was more important than ever as certain powers seek to undermine the international order and the UN and multilateral system which is working for peace are at their weakest since their foundation,” he said.
Turner said we should remind ourselves of the battles of our forefathers and the horrors they saw and endured in defeating fascism 80 years ago.
“We should not take peace for granted”, he said.
Turner said out that we wear the red poppy not just as a symbol of remembrance, but as a promise: a promise that we will not forget.
He explained that the poppy story is back when thousands upon thousands of poppies grew up in the battlefields of Flanders, Belgium in the months following WWI, blooming amidst the devastation and human carnage.
Turner added that the poppy became a symbol that even in the darkest times, hope and resilience can endure.
He said it is true that in Britain, they focus a lot on the war in Europe and the horrors that unfolded there whether on the muddy fields of Belgium and France in WW1 or the industrial scale killings across the whole European continent during WW2.
Turner stated that the battle in the Pacific however, is not forgotten.
In this regard, he said the poppy is for all our service men and women who died serving their countries, whether that was at sea in the Pacific or fighting in the Mediterranean, on the beaches of northern France or in the jungles of the SE Asia and the Pacific Islands.
“We remember the soldiers who never came home. The families who waited but never saw loved ones again. The communities forever changed. We remember those who returned, carrying the invisible wounds of war that blighted their lives forever after. Most of all, we remember the peace that was won, and the cost at which it came,” said Turner.
The British High Commissioner said remembrance is not only about the past as it is also about the present and the future.
He said today, we honour those who serve in our armed forces, in peacekeeping missions, humanitarian aid, and defence of freedom. Their courage and commitment uphold the values we cherish.
“In war, as a famous quote goes, ‘There are no unwounded soldiers’,” he said.
Turner said so if nothing else this morning, let us let the simple poppy remind us of our shared humanity.
“And let it remind us that peace is fragile and should never be taken for granted,” he noted.
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WW2 Guadalcanal campaign is one of the biggest fighting in WW2 history and in the pacific in 1942 and it happened on Guadalcanal island in 1942 when USA and its allied forces land on lungga beach and try to take back Guadalcanal island which is already at that time in Japanese hands. And its after effects is still felt in our country today in which many Unexploded Explosive Ordnances (UXO) are still scattered around our country mostly in places where fighting is heavy namely Guadalcanal island specifically in areas where our capital city Honiara is situated eastward as far as GIPPOL 3, and westward as far as auriligo as well in Tulagi, Western province, Choiseul island, Shortland Islands etc. And these UXO still kill and injured our people to this day e.g. on the 30th of October 2025 an UXO exploded at town ground area in west Honiara when a fire was set on it accidently and it explode and injured a man in his 30s who was hospitalized and recovered.