Remembrance Day 2021: the personal accounts of our national heroes

This Thursday 11th November marks Remembrance Day in the UK; a national opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. With 103 years since the end of the First World War, it can be far too easy to forget the sacrifices that soldiers made as we go about our day-to-day lives. However without their efforts and perseverance, life would look very different compared to how it does today.

National biographer StoryTerrace has helped many veterans and war heroes document their life stories – including individuals that were able to do so themselves, as well as family members who chose to do so on their behalf – so that their legacies are preserved for future generations.

Rutger Bruining, Founder and CEO of StoryTerrace, discusses how his grandfather’s wartime stories inspired him to begin StoryTerrace:

“As we go about our daily lives, it is far too easy to forget the sacrifices that those on the front-line made for the benefit of our society today. On Remembrance Day, I encourage everyone to reflect on the efforts of our veterans, and to dig a little deeper into the past histories of our families who may have some stories to pass down to future generations.

When I founded the business, I was inspired by my grandfather and the fascinating stories he told me about him time in the war, which faded much quicker than I expected. I soon regretted not documenting them earlier, for both myself to reflect on as well as for future generations in my family to learn from.

I got so much enjoyment out of hearing my grandfather’s stories – but it was his accounts of his time in the war which had a particularly significant impact on my life due to his learnings and advise that he was consequently able to give me. There is little to no documentation of his experience, which I deeply regret not doing at the time.”