To the new born child

Subject: To the new born child.

On tv, channel 81, programs from the archives show films made in the 50s 60s 70s there are also films made earlier, films made during the war and earlier, each depicting the fabric of the nation. Each era, right up to the present day reflects society as it was and is, a moving tableau, much like the famous Bayeux Tapestry, a chronicle of events which were common then and part of our environmental history.

The one I have just watched signaled the different lives lived under the pressure of war and as a footnote shows a new born baby being brought home from the hospital for the first time. A baby oblivious to the world around him reliant on the care of a mother with perhaps a father fighting on the continent or in the fields and factories producing the goods and armaments we needed to continue fighting. The innocence of the new born set against the turmoil all around was in part the theme of the film, the indomitable human spirit which pervades all societies regardless of the deficiencies of leadership. 
The milestones such the landings in Normandy, the historic parachute brigade trying to hold the bridge at Arnhem, the Russian breakthrough against Germany whilst the Flying Bombs rained down on London. People out dancing to the music of the jazz band whilst the 8th Army drove Rommel back across the sand dunes, two worlds disconnected, men killing each other, families made fatherless on both sides, German fathers, French fathers, Italian fathers, British fathers, Australian fathers, Indian fathers, New Zealand fathers, Russian fathers Japanese fathers and American fathers, that's a lot of fathers missing in action, a lot of fathers missing from home, a lot of fathers missing the birth of their child and as the pram revealed the squirming announcement of another new opportunity to make a fresh start, the theme of the program was that we mustn't let it happen again. 
I was that child and much of my life has been pleasantly optimistic, only 79 years later the clouds seem to be .gathering but as new life arrives in Wales any day now the starting point is much rosier than it was when I let out my first squawk and since my squawking seems to still be in good voice, I hope little Liliwen, Dwysil or Begw will have as optimistic and happy life as I have.