The suspicion of that has proved an effective way of undermining trust in Unionist good faith on the Nationalist and Republican side. Mr Trimble has heard these fears, really heard them, for the first time And he has made the necessary response. He may not emerge victorious in the final battles ahead; but he has already earned his Peace medal twice over Now he has to do so yet one more time No reasonable person could want him to fail.. The Queen will not be laying the first wreath at the Cenotaph this morning Perhaps most people will not care.

After all, she is in South Africa, where Commonwealth heads of government are meeting, and will mark Remembrance Day in Durban, where there is a Cenotaph that replicates Whitehall's. Back home she can leave it to the Prince of Wales to fulfil her duty. But there will be some, including me, who are affronted by her omission. The monarch ought to be here, leading the nation's tribute to the millions who died in the service of their country.

The coinage of "Queen and Country" is debased by this Palace faux pas. And it wounds people such as me who are still - more than 50 years on - haunted by the experiences of war at the sharp end. The silence that falls over the land at 11am every year on the second Sunday in November roars in my head like the crash of the 88mm shell that knocked out the tank I crewed in the battle for Bremen on 23 April 1945 - St George's Day. Four of us survived when the Sherman - a breed of tank known as "Ronsons" because they caught fire quickly if a shell penetrated the engine compartment - was hit. The commander, Lieutenant Edward Moulding, died instantly, his body falling across me in the claustrophobic turret.