By Community Correspondant Isobel McConville
The 11th of November marks the signing of the Armistice, on the 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One. On this day every year we pay respect to all the soldiers who fought and gave their lives in the First World War and all subsequent wars. We also wear poppies, to symbolise the poppies that grew in the fields where the soldiers were killed. On this year Remembrance Day is especially poignant, as there are no longer any survivors of World War 1.
To mark this special day, students from Twickenham Schools St Catherine’s, St James and Waldergrave joined the memorial service in Radnor Gardens with members of the armed forces and Royal British Legion. Members of the local community also came to the ceremony, along with the Mayor and the Vicar of St Mary’s College, Twickenham.
The service included hymns, prayers and reading from pupils at each school. It also included the traditional ‘Last Post’ played by a member of St James School orchestra, which also played ‘Reveille’ and ‘Kohima’ to mark the occasion. Despite the rain, the two minutes silence and the laying of the wreaths was thought-provoking, and the soldiers of the past and present were honoured in everyone’s thoughts. The service ended with the Lord’s Prayer and the emotive poem,
‘They shall not grow old as we that are left to grow old
Age shall not weary them; nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them’
As the army marched at the end of the service it provided a stark comparison to the soldiers who died in the World Wars, similar brave young men, and highlighted the need to honour and remember the patriots who died serving their country.
The event was a real community occasion, with young and old from around the area joined together for Remembrance Day, showing that even 91 years on Britain is still proud of its soldiers.
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