Remembrance Day
On the Sunday nearest to 11th of November at 11am each year, a Remembrance Service is held throughout Britain and the Commonwealth countries to commemorate servicemen and women who died in the two World Wars and later conflicts. Traditionally the monarch, religious leaders, politicians, representatives of state and the armed and auxiliary forces, gather to pay respect to those who gave their lives defending others. The service has changed little since it was first introduced in 1919, hymns are sung, prayers are said, a two minute silence is observed and official wreaths are laid. The ceremony ends with a march past of war veterans dedicated to our wounded heroes and is the custodian of Remembrance, ensuring that sacrifices on behalf of the nation are honoured.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 after over four years of bitter fighting, The Great War was finally over in Europe. The Armistice was signed in the Forest of Compiegne in France on November 11, 1918. Remembrance Day came to symbolise the end of the war and provide an opportunity to remember those who had died. The poppy, which grew wildly on those fields of Europe which had seen the worst carnage, became the symbol of Remembrance worn during the weeks leading to Remembrance Sunday.
Last week, I was pleased to back this year’s London Poppy Day by shaking a bucket on Thursday. I was standing at Westminster station with a Welsh Guard raising funds towards the recovery of our injured today and the brave men and women from the past. The Royal British Legion helps our Armed Forces families with £1.4 million every week in direct welfare. The Poppy Appeal stands shoulder to shoulder with our brave Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan today, veterans of past conflict, and their families.
Since before being elected to Parliament, I have had the honour of attending the Remembrance Day service in Bracknell. Over the next few years, I am planning on attending services in Finchampstead and in Sandhurst. It is a great honour to lay wreaths on behalf of my constituents. To be honest, though, a small part of me still wants to be with my grandfather who has laid wreaths at his memorial in Flackwell Heath, Buckinghamshire every year since the last war. His poppy wreath is laid on behalf of his family in memory of his brother, a Grenadier guard who died near Anzio in Italy. His death, and those of many others, are a sobering reminder of the supreme sacrifices made in the past on behalf of our country. Sadly, lives continue to be lost in the defence of Britain and its values. Hence, we all must never fail to remember those who serve in our Armed Forces, particularly at this time of year.
(Published in the Bracknell News, November 2011)