Duke of Edinburgh opens Field of Remembrance
6 Nov 08
Under a sombre leaden November sky some two thousand serving military personnel, veterans and members of the public today crowded into the garden in front of Westminster Abbey to remember fallen friends and colleagues as HRH The Duke of Edinburgh formally opened the Field of Remembrance.
Poppies at the Field of Remembrance
[Picture: Sgt Graham Spark]
Like so many of the people there, Prince Philip today, Thursday 6 November 2008, planted a cross before beginning a tour of the garden, where a sea of crosses represents so many of the units from all the armed services which have seen action since World War I.
In the RAF's 90th year, it was fitting to see that one of those plots for the first time commemorates the fallen from the RAF Police. Warrant Officer Bill Veazey said:
"I noticed some time ago that our trade wasn't represented at the annual commemoration at Westminster, so we have worked hard this year to prepare a plot marking the contribution and sacrifices made by RAF Police in so many theatres of operation."
John Lucas from Woolwich served in the RAF Regiment between 1951 and 1955 and is keen to keep the memory of his comrades in the public mind. He said:
"I come every year. I know the wartime generation is dwindling now, but the RAF goes on serving in all sorts of conflicts around the world. I like to remember my friends and I want others to know what they did."
John Lucas, a former Senior Aircraftman in the RAF Regiment, was based at Catterick in 1953
[Picture: Sgt Graham Spark]
Flight Sergeant Sue Brown came to Westminster to represent the Princess Mary's RAF Nursing Service. She teaches at the Royal College of Defence Medicine in Birmingham and pointed out crosses representing two of her branch's most recent losses to a helicopter accident in Akrotiri. Another cross bearing the name Cpl M Cook has special significance for the nursing service:
"We now award an annual prize in memory of Cpl Cook to the best nurse in training. I consider it a great honour to be here. Having just returned from Iraq where we lost four lads, I consider occasions like this to be very important."
Further along the line of plots a World War II WRAF (Women's Royal Air Force) veteran found the memories came flooding back. Peggy Lambourne, formerly Leading Aircraftwoman Peggy Blackman, planted a cross in memory of a friend in her unit who was killed during a bombing raid:
"I don't think young people can ever really understand," she said, "you see we lost so many friends. My boyfriend was aircrew, he was killed in Malaya. I feel it my duty to come every year and pay tribute to all of them."
The Field of Remembrance is open for public viewing throughout the period of remembrance and commemoration.