DURING both World Wars those serving within the Armed Forces, Land Army, Merchant Navy, the coal mines, ship yards, steel works, the SOE, aircraft or munitions factories, etc weren’t just adult conscripts, volunteers and reservists.

Often forgotten are the school children and students who abandoned the safety of classroom and lecture hall to do their bit. Knowing what was at stake, they willingly sacrificed their future for our todays. They saw things no one should see, they grew up quickly and many died before their time.

Recently Southampton University Student’s Union president Emily Dawes pledged to take down and even paint over a mural to former students killed during the First World War. The resultant outrage caused her to apologise. No matter her excuses, her attitudes are typical of so many ignorant, privileged, ungrateful, spoilt and something for nothing Millennials. They’ve no grasp of patriotism, history or that nothing in life is free.

The price of the democratic, freedoms and rights we take for granted is paid for each day by those within our Armed Forces, police, security and intelligence services who willingly defend these with their life.

Something far too many Millennials will never understand.

C T Riley, Spennymoor