Why 21 September?
People ask me all the time why I chose the date 21st September as Peace Day. There are four reasons for this:
- When I first had the idea for Peace Day, it was 1998, the eve of the 21st Century – the new Millennium, so it felt appropriate that 21 factored in the chosen date; what better way to mark the 21st Century than with a drive towards global peace?
- September 21st is the date generally associated with the Autumnal Equinox – a time of great astronomical and spiritual significance for a great many people.
- The United Nations General Assembly re-opens on or around this date every year. In this sense, it is a very symbolic time globally.
- Finally, and most significantly for me, 21 was my grandfather, Frank Gilley’s favourite number. He was an incredible man and a great inspiration to me. During World War II, he was a prisoner-of-war in Japan. He and his battalion saw the bomb go off in Nagasaki. Eight hundred men left England to fight in his battalion but only 27 of them left Japan to return to England. On the journey home, a further 6 men died, leaving a remaining 21 survivors to go back home and tell their stories.
In Peace,
Jeremy
