Lest We Forget

"Lest we forget" is a phrase commonly used in war remembrance services and commemorative occasions in English speaking countries, specifically those connected to the British Empire. Before the term was used in reference to soldiers and war, it was first used in an 1897 Christian poem written by Rudyard Kipling called "Recessional", a poem written to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The phrase occurs eight times; and is repeated at the end of the first four stanzas in order to add particular emphasis regarding the dangers of failing to remember.