The heroes of war are mostly men. War is mens business. But women are not only directly involved, particularly so in modern warfare, but heavily involved in an indirect way, as a consequence of war. One such woman was Annie, the matriarch of the lost Souls.
The World War of 1914 to 1918 was called the Great War, the war to end all wars. Someone boo booed with that tag as we are all now too aware. Annie Souls had six sons and three daughters. They lived in Greater Rippington, Gloustershire, England. The five sons who were old enough to enlist did so and were packed off to Europe to serve King and country. Aged between 20 and 30, not one of the boys returned. This was the greatest loss to one family recorded from World War I.
The body of the last to die was never found. Annie kept a candle burning in the window as if miraculously he might return. But losing five sons was not tragedy enough for Annie.
Annie moved from Greater Rippington, not to avoid the memories but to avoid the gossip. She had overheard talk in the village, envious talk of the woman who was making a tidy penny from all the pension money she was getting. Annie received a shilling, ten cents per week for each of her sons as they had no descendants or dependents themselves to claim the pension. Fifty cents a week, hardly a Kings ransom!
Speaking of the King, Annie never stood for “God save the King” thereafter as she felt he had taken her sons. Even in the 1960's, not standing for the National Anthem was enough to get you ejected from the movie theatre so in earlier years, it was quite a protest. She did stand once it was reported, belligerently, when her grand daughter graduated, “So as not to make a fuss and embarrass her”.
Two years after her move away from Greater Rippington, Annie Soul's sixth son who had been spared serving in the war by his youth, died of meningitis.
For each of the “numbers” detailed on the news for the casualties of war, there was once a heart, there were once dreams, there was once laughter, there remain an umbrella of people who will live on with only the memory of the one they have lost. The pain of losing one is no less shattering than the loss of five but five clearly shows the tragedy of war.
