On Sunday, as you may recall, I went to the Remembrance Day gathering in London, Knightbridge, at the Cenotaph there.
On Tuesday, on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, when, ninety years ago, the guns fell silent, I went to Tribute Island, once of my fabourite places in Second Life. As as I stood there silent by the War Memorial, looking out over the rows of graves that commemorate the lives of British servicemen and women lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, people began to gather, to mark their respect for the dead and wounded of all wars.
You may recall that Tribute Island, linked with the online tribute site Lasting Tribute, is a place to both remember and reflect, and to salute those who have gone before and given us knowledge, and beauty and even sheer unadulterated fun.
So, you can enjoy your Fay Wray fantasies, or visit the cinema complex to remember your favourite films (and those who created them) – or even visit the film studios and play a part in their making. You can pay tribute to your favourite poets or dance under the benevolent gaze of favourite musical luminaries such as John Lennon, Elvis and Dudley Moore (a noted jazz pianist).
One of the most moving places on the island is the war cemetery. In earlier wars, soldiers were buried in cemeteries where they fell, and we have the vast graveyards that commemorate the fallen in France – and others from more recent conflicts around the world – small cemeteries in the Falklands, in Aden, in Malaysia … even in Iraq, marking a previous British occupation (up till 1952). Now, of course, the bodies of the soldiers are returned home to grieving families, and one doesn’t really guess at the scale of what is happening. But on Tribute Island, the war cemetery commemorates the British soldiers who have lost their lives in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – over 200 in Iraq and 100 in Afghanistan. It’s a deeply moving place – made more so by the poppies placed around the Centotaph by friends and families who have visited and left their own tributes.
Tribute Island was built during October ’07 by Associated Northcliffe Digital (part of the DMGT Group), with the senior design consultants and master builders of Wind Meta Works.
You can also see a video on the Island here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugPEjEfdsU.
Prim Perfect 