A broadsheet obituarist once pointed out to me that veteran soldiers die by rank. First to go are … - A. A. Gill

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Nowadays you can go anywhere in the world in a few hours, and nothing is fabulous any more.

A. A. Gill

A broadsheet obituarist once pointed out to me that veteran soldiers die by rank. First to go are the generals, admirals and air marshals, then the brigadiers, then a bit of a gap and the colonels and wing commanders and passed-over majors, then a steady trickle of captains and lieutenants. As they get older and rarer, so the soldiers are mythologised and grow ever more heroic, until finally drummer boys and under-age privates are venerated and laurelled with honours like ancient field marshals. There is something touching about that.

Boys, Field, Gap, Mythologised, Peace, War

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