Krakatau volcanoe spewing ash

Over the weekend I was out at Anyer, west Java, which overlooks the Sundra Straits between Java and Sumatra. The islands of Krakatau lie in the Sundra Straits and I had a glimpse of them on Sunday morning. Later the same day, Krakatau started bellowing smoke and spewing ash. Was she angry at me or someone else ? Here is a report from a local paper.

The authorities had issued warnings of a possible eruption of the Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) volcano in the Sunda Strait after it spewed ash and smoke. Several small eruptions have been detected and prompted the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Centre to raise its alert status to the second level. A giant Krakatoa eruption of 1883 that killed tens of thousands of people was the largest explosion in recorded history.

Why were we fighting ?

Baldrick the incorrigible star in Blackadder said " War is a terrible thing."
Never a truer statement.

My father fought in the 2nd World War and was on that terrible battle for Monte Cassino as part of New Zealand's 23rd Battalion.

Recently my brother and his wife visited Monte Cassino and laid five roses there, one each on behalf of his five children. Private James William Godfrey McKerrow fought gallantly on Monte Cassino and saw a huge number of his friends die around him. He was wounded, but able to continue fighting. Dad spoke little of the war, but would often get nostalgic at Christmas time as he remembered the Christmas he spent in a trench on Monte cassino. He told me how there was a half day cease fire and he and his comrades crossed the frontline to celebrate Christmas with the German soldiers they had been trying to kill for the past few months. Dad said. " they were good men like our soldiers, fathers and sons like us. " He said rather sadly to me, " I wondered then and still do now, why we were fighting ? "

My Dad told me how they swapped precious gifts such as chocolate, sweets, canned meat and cigarettes. They also sang songs in tehir own languages.

I have worked for the Red Cross for 35 years and have seen first hand the Vietnam War, the war that created Bangladesh, wars in Ethiopia, India/Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan. My Dad's words turn over in my head, " Why were we fighting ? "