I HAD a thought on Remembrance Sunday about bravery. How many young men, some of them school age, had laid down their lives for our country.

And how terrified they must have felt when they waited hungry, thirsty and muddied in those trenches uncertain if they’d ever see their families again.

Then I fast forwarded to recent times and a story in this newspaper about two girls who were allegedly beaten up at a firework display. One of the victims’ mums said up to 15 people had witnessed the beatings, which left the girls with injuries, yet no-one intervened.

Similarly, a 14-year-old girl has been charged after CCTV footage showed her thumping an 87-year-old woman in the face on a London bus. The granny had, allegedly, confronted the girl when she refused to pay her bus fare.

This kind of thuggery is played out on social media almost every day. Some poor kid gets beaten to a pulp and a crowd stands around baying for blood. Yet, it would appear that only the older generation has the bravery to stand up and fight for what is right, even if it gets them a smack in the face.

In contrast we’re all glued to the C4 reality TV show SAS: Who Dares Wins which shows a team of special services wannabes – including, shock horror, a professional dancer – being physically tortured and mentally degraded to find out if they’re ‘ard enough to join the SAS.

They’ve had to carry 20-stone men on their backs for miles, been hunted for nights on end without sleep and been cross-examined about their difficult childhoods. It’s compelling telly and at times quite amusing. “So why did you become a dancer?” asks ex-SAS hard man. “I got thrown out of school,” says dancer. “Well, so did I, but it didn’t make me want to put on an effin’ leotard”, came the barked reply.

I think the young dancer chap has probably got what it takes to make it through to the SAS. Dancing’s not easy and there’s a lot of pain and discipline involved.

However, he maybe tough, but is he brave?

Going about their business on a normal day, how many of them would step in and help a man being kicked on the floor by a group of thugs.

Pumping iron and flexing muscles may make a person strong, but risking your life for another is the ultimate test of bravery. Sadly it’s an attribute which is clearly lacking in today’s society.