THERE are at least 65 million reasons why the annual poppy appeal and Remembrance Day must never be forgotten that is how many died in both sides in the two world wars of the 20th century and that is not counting the casualties from all the other conflicts, including the battle for the Falklands.

As we stand before our memorials and cenotaphs on Sunday and say "We Remember" it is important we do remember the cost of war in human terms, although we may not remember any of the individuals involved.

Time has gone on and it is now more than 60 years since the Second World War and more than 80 since the First World War.

There is a glory to winning wars and national pride that Britain has, on two occasions, stood up against the Germans and, it might be said, beaten them against the odds.

The cost was the millions of men and women who died not all of them soldiers, sailors or airmen who gave their lives serving their respective countries.

The civilian losses in towns and cities which were blitzed in aerial attacks have to be included, the thousands of women and children who perished both in England and in our counter-attacks over Germany.

Of course the tentacles of war reached out further than just Europe and Allied soldiers from the USA, Australia, New Zealand and countless other nations gave their lives in the name of freedom.

No one knows how many died in the American reprisal nuclear attacks on Japan which helped bring the Second World War to a close but wiped out almost the entire populations of two major cities.

What was it all for? the younger generations will ask and it is difficult to answer them when today at the dawn of the third Millennium we are working closely with Japan and Germany to build trade relations.

Many of the major employers who provide jobs in Wiltshire have German or Japanese ties. The Japanese car giant Honda nowadays builds cars on the very site of Second World War airfield where Spitfires were built for the Allied forces.

The Rover factories in Swindon are owned by German car company BMW, a convergence of two companies who, in times of war, would have been helping build munitions in a bid to blast the other out of existence.

It is impossible to talk of winners in wars because all sides are losers. And when hostilities cease that is not the end for the relatives whose loved ones are not coming home but just the beginning of a life of regret.

Today in Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Calne, Wootton Bassett, Pewsey, Marlborough, in every community, there are people who mourn for those who never returned. There are still widows whose husbands went out to "do their bit" in the Second World War but, sadly, never made it through.

The Royal British Legion is still picking up the pieces from the dozens of conflicts in the 20th century in which men, women and children perished in the name of war.

It must be the aim of every politician in the world from the newly elected President of the USA down to the smallest nation to make war a thing of history books and films.

Who can failed to be moved by the words carved on a memorial in Kohima in Burma which say:

"When you go home

Tell them of us and say

For your tomorrows we gave our today."

We must remember or the lives of all those who have died in wars will have been given for no gain.

Only if we remember can we avoid getting drawn into wars in future and ensure we resort to consultation around a table instead of confrontation over gun sights.