Today’s article in The Guardian about the end of British military operations in Northern Ireland included a phrase I thought noteworthy. The end of Operation Banner was “an event without ceremony” according to the army. So much of Britain’s presence in the world has been defined by ceremony that I am reflecting on what this phrase means.

Also of note is the fact that the headquarters of the British military in Northern Ireland is a barracks named after village in France where the Memorial to the Missing from the First World War is erected.

It was, the army insisted yesterday, an event without ceremony - just the simple lowering of a flag inside Thiepval Barracks in Lisburn, headquarters of the military presence in Northern Ireland throughout the Troubles.

The complete article from The Guardian: “British Troops Leave After 38 Years”