I enjoyed the fact that the March past was limited. Over the past few years it’s grown to become all sorts of ‘odds & sods’ to the point that a lot of organisations represented seem to be there just to be seen on telly. If it means a cutting down of these extras, I’m all for it.
I feel I have to take issue with you there MG. The organisations and associations that take part do so through the auspices of the RBL and are certainly not there "to be seen on telly". Mind you, the Beeb seems to share your sentiments as it invariably wound up its coverage before the tail end of the column had marched through. It is at the tail end where the youth organisations are, including the military cadet ones. The latter will have honed their marching in preparation for paying tribute and are thus usually the smartest contingents in the column. War affects all, the widows, the children, the survivors. None of them are "odds and sods" and of them all I would count the young as a vital part of Remembrance. My first experience of Remembrance was as a Wolf Cub at the tail end of our local parade. It was a salutary experience and a beginning to understanding the tragedy that war always is.