Exactly a hundred years ago today, on August 4, 1914, the First World War broke out. To commemorate the centenary of this sad event, a special religious service was held at the St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral yesterday morning. 

War veterans had joined Vice-President Danny Faure, ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of other religious faiths and a large congregation for the mass in remembrance of the deadly four-year conflict in which 347 young Seychellois have lost their lives and 11 have remained unaccounted for.

The presiding priest Reverend Daniel Kallée called on all Seychellois to on this sad anniversary, stand with all of the world’s peace-hungry countries like Gaza, Ukraine and Syria. He prayed for us to renew our commitment for freedom, equality and democracy and looked to the day when extremist movements will exist no more.

Mrs Skoll and Mr Baronne addressing the congregation

In a short address, the British high commissioner, Lindsay Skoll, quoted Winston Churchill from his speech “A Time of Triumph” where he praised those who came from the uttermost ends of the earth including Seychelles to fight alongside Britain and the Commonwealth:

“From the poorest colony to the most powerful dominion […] when the King declares war, the Empire is at war”, the former British Prime Minister had then said.

Mrs Skoll said that one of the most enduring lessons of that terrible conflict is that in the gravest and grimmest situations people of all background, races and religions unite against darkness and oppression in the name of a common cause. 

She reminded that when the call came, Seychelles and Seychellois did not hesitate to respond. 
“The losses endured by Seychelles during the First World War were staggering. The census of 1911 recorded a national population of just 22,600. Of this tiny community – less than a quarter of the current population of Seychelles – the lives of 347 young men were taken by the conflict. The impact of such a staggering level of loss in such a small community is impossible to imagine. But there is perhaps no greater testimony to the spirit and character of the people of Seychelles than the fact that, a little over twenty years after suffering this terrible trauma, they did not hesitate to take up arms again in defence of the Commonwealth at the outbreak of the Second World War,” she said.

The British high commissioner did not fail to stress that we today live in a more complicated, cruel and inequitable world and that as long as there will be war, the legacy of those who fell in the First World War and other subsequent ones is far from being fulfilled. 

She however insisted that evil can be and must be defeated. Reminding that the First World War turned our diversity into a great unity, she called on each and every one of us to use its centenary to make a commitment to become better. 

On his part, war veteran Major Andre Baronne reminded how life was difficult back home during the war. He recalled how with constant menace of a German invasion the population had to set up armed units under the direction of a Defence Council and grow more local food for its sustainability.
He concluded that we need to teach our children the history of the country and its involvement in the First World War.

Forrás: www.nation.sc