Old Soldiers …

May 9th, 2011 Sections: Life In Kyrgyzstan, Second World War, Society, The Year in Kyrgyzstan

One day last week, I was talking to one of my neighbours about Dehn Pobeda, the public holiday, (today),  which commemorates the end of the Second World War, (or the Great Patriotic War, as it is known here).  She was but a little girl during the war itself, although she could remembered that it was aa difficult time.  She remembered clearly, however, May 9th, 1945, the day when the German surrender was received in Moscow and announced to the public.  The sun was shining brightly, the skies were blue and it was hot, very hot, she told me.  When the news of the German surrender broke, everyone started hugging and kissing each other.

I heard about her father and older brother who had served in the war.  Her father had served in Finland in 1939 and been captured, but managed to escape and return to the Russian lines and had taken part in several campaigns.  The other was an artillerist who had been injured several times, but was there for the assault on Berlin.

She then asked me about my father, she knows that I am too young, that wasn’t even born until after the war was over.  Had he made it to Berlin?, she wanted to know.  I told her how he had driven a tan, been in the battle of El Alamein in North Africa, (but I don’t think she had ever heard of it – here the concentration is, naturally, on the Battle of Kursk, the biggest tank battle of the war and cost the Soviets about a million casualties), and had driven up Italy as part of the Second Front.

She proved to be a mine of information, informing me that there were only about 3000 veterans of the War left in Kyrgyzstan.

She also took great pleasure in telling me all about Claude Choules, the last surviving combatant of the First World War who died last week, (on Thursday, May 5th), in Perth, Australia, aged 110.  She’d seen the news of his passing on the television and in the local press.

It brought back memories of when I was a schoolboy, pouring over an old newspaper report about the death of Walter Williams in 1959.  It was claimed that he was the last survivor of America’s worst war, the American Civil War, and had a picture in his coffin dressed in a Confederate uniform.  Since then, however, his status has been brought into question.  It was claimed that he fought on the confederate side, but the Confederates didn’t have systematic archive of records and researchers discovered that he was born in 1855 and would have been too young to serve, being just six when the war started and 10 at its conclusion.  It seems that the last confirmed survivor was a Union soldier, Albert Woolson, who died on 2nd August, 1956.

Claude Choules, was born in 1901, in Pershore, Worcestershire, (a town I remember well as it is not far from Malvern where I was born and grew up), he apparently tried to enroll in the British Army at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, but they rejected him as being too young.  Undeterred, he tried again and in 1915, at the age of 15, he joined the Royal Navy.

His military career spanned both World Wars.  Serving in the Home Fleet in the 1914-18 war, (he witnessed the surrender and scuttling of the German Imperial Fleet at Scarpa Flow at the end of the First World War), and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in the interwar years so that he served in Australia during the 1939-45 war.  It was in Australia that he died.

His autobiography, “The Last of the Last” was published by Hesperian Press in 2009.

There is one more surviving veteran from the Great War, Florence Green, but as an Officers’ Mess Steward in the Women’s Royal Air Force, technically, unlike Choules, she was a non-combatant. (Incidentally, I was surprised to see yet another (slight – very slight) personal connection in that she was born in Edmonton, in North London, which isn’t far from Southgate, where I lived for almost as long as I lived in Malvern.)

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On Friday, before the skies opened and it started pouring, Andrei went into town and found a host of veterans outside the Philharmonia.  They were attending a special concert as part of the celebrations to mark Dehn Pobeda which, as I said, actually falls on today, Monday, May 9th, but as we have a long holiday weekend, several of the activities to mark the day are taking place over the course of several days.

Dehn Pobeda is the equivalent of Remembrance Day in the UK, (November 11th – although Remembrance Sunday, when official ceremonies to commemorate the occasion, is the nearest Sunday to the 11th), Veterans Day in the US, (also November 11th), and ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand, (25th April).

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Picture from Wikipedia:

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As it happens, May 6th is St George’s Day according to the Julian Calendar and, so, is commemorated in the Orthodox Church on this day.  Now, St. George is not only the Patron Saint of England, (and also Georgia), he has a special place in Russian Orthodoxy. The Order of St. George was an order of chivalry in Imperial Russia and the striped orange and black ribbon is used as a symbol for remembrance in the same way as we use a poppy in Britain.

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Anyway, Andrei took some photos and asked one veteran in full dress uniform if he could have a photograph of the two of them standing together.

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Later that afternoon, I went to the 12th annual Krasnaya Gvozdika Festival at the Seitek Youth Centre.  Krasnaya Gvozdika is Russian for Red Carnation and the Festival takes the form of a Gala Concert to marks the end of an annual competition amongst various veterans groups.  Participants are awarded certificates and winners of the various sections receive their prizes and perform their winning entries.

I like this festival because it is a way of showing the veterans that they are not forgotten.  What’s more, although it lasts for just about two hours, about half of which is taken up with the distribution of awards, it represents many, many hours of dedicated work in rehearsal by the various soloists, ensembles and choirs.

Many of the participants dress up for the occasion in national costume.  There is one woman who always dresses in uniform and appears immaculate.   One of the most colourful was the Russian ensemble Russkiy Dvor – Russian Yard.

I am afraid that I don’t recognize most of the pieces that are performed, whether they be songs, recitations or whatever … they are not really part of my background.  Of course the items won’t be pieces like “There’ll Be Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs of Dover” … that’s only to be expected.

As one of the sponsors, (along with the City authorities, some of the local authorities of the Chui region and the Russian Embassy), I have been going to the festival for several years and so I do recognize some things.  Many of the participants, for example, even if I don’t know them all personally.

I also recognize the opening a closing items which are regular features each year, Krasnaya Gvozdika and Dehn Pobeda, and although I can’t join in with the rest of the audience who join in with gusto, it makes for a welcome and reassuringly familiar routine.

One other thing that I did recognize this year, however, was one of the tunes played as the participants and winners mounted the stage to receive their awards: the tune of the Grenadier Guards.

I took along with me a bunch of flowers to present to Elvira Nikolaievna, the organiser of the festival.  I looked for a bunch of Red Carnations, but couldn’t find any, there were totally sold out.  When I got there I understood why … as well as being a popular flower at this time of year, (and also for funerals), each of the participants was presented, not only with a certificate but also with … a red carnation.  They’d obviously bought up most of the city’s supply.  In the end, I had to settle for a bunch of peonies … but the looked good, had a nice smell and Elvira Nikolaievna was very happy to receive them as I congratulated her on another year’s hard work in putting the festival together,

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There a number of other activities supported and/or organized by the Russian embassy and I have been invited to another concert today, in the Theater of Opera and Ballet at four o’clock.  I am quite looking forward to it, even if the songs will be unfamiliar.

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Links to related earlier postcards:

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