THIS Sunday, thousands of us will stop what we are doing and join in an act of silent remembrance of the sacrifice of those who have fought for this country.

Phrases about never forgetting will trip off the tongue from many of us and the commentators bringing coverage from the village war memorial right up to the Cenotaph in London.

Yet while that sentiment will be faithfully meant, there will be a time – possibly in a couple of generations – where the realisation about the personal sacrifices from the two world wars will begin to fade from memory.

It won’t be deliberate and the conflict will be commemorated, but the danger is that as our veterans succumb to the fight against old age our connection will be more akin to the other historic battles and wars. Simply, if you can’t envisage the people involved, it is harder to envisage what they went through.

That is why the installation of QR codes at Botley Cemetery is not just some technical frippery but a way of keeping the memory of these servicemen and women alive.

Instead of row upon row of silent gravestones, future generations will be able to take their smartphones (or whatever device they have by then) and learn the stories.

It will hopefully mean these brave individual servicemen and women will genuinely never be forgotten.