“Patriotism, honour and courage.” These are the words our government would like us to repeat this year as we record the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. Education Secretary Michael Gove, troubled by the apparent lack of nationalist fervour when we remember the Great War,implores the public to understand that Britain’s role was marked by ‘nobility and courage’, meanwhile Mayor of London, Boris Johnson revises Britain’s involvement as reactionary and defensive, ‘overwhelmingly the result of German expansionism and aggression.’ If those in Government seem anxious to control public perceptions of a war fought 100 years ago it is because of the implications it holds for present and future conflicts. The symbol of the poppy has become an effective tool for galvanising tacit public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year, as conservatives parade triumphalist versions of WWI through the media, it seems worth thinking about those officially sanctioned narratives of war closer to home, those cemented in the centre of every village, town and city in the country.
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