“THE lamps are going out all over Europe, and we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

This famous statement is attributed to Sir Edward Grey, who was Foreign Secretary on the eve of the first World War and has inspired a remarkable opportunity for commemoration on Monday, August 4.

Lights Out is an invitation to everyone in the UK to turn off their lights between 10-11pm, leaving a single light or candle, to share together the memory of the outbreak of World War One. Plans are already in hand for this nationally and locally but one further suggestion comes to mind. That is for a candle to be placed in every front garden, and for those without a garden, something as small as a tealight could be put in the window.

There are still so many who will never forget a loved one who died in this terrible conflict, and others still remember those who returned home to resume normal lives, but battle scarred in so any different ways.

This would be a special time in which we could stop for a while in this busy 21st century and cast our minds back to that time when lives were forever changed, and again give thanks for the many who served our country in the dark days that followed.

Stanley H Jones, Horse Road, Hilperton Marsh, Trowbridge