Remembrance runs deep from Afghanistan to London
8 Nov 09
At bases in Afghanistan and on Royal Navy ships, RAF stations and Army barracks around the world, the British Armed Forces community honoured their colleagues who have fallen in recent weeks and across the decades, today, Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2009.
Remembrance Sunday at Camp Bastion, Helmand province, Afghanistan
[Picture: Cpl Steve Bain RAF, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
Over 7,000 veterans gathered at the Cenotaph in London's Whitehall alone to take part in the Remembrance Sunday March Past, organised by the Royal British Legion which is the National Custodian of Remembrance.
The March Past was led by the Legion Trustees and the National Chairman, Peter Cleminson, with the lead 'column' this year headed by the Royal Signals Association.
National Chairman of the Royal British Legion, Peter Cleminson, said:
"Remembrance Sunday is one of the most important days in the Legion calendar and it's a time to reflect upon the sacrifices made by our Armed Forces since the First World War right through to today.
"Our thoughts on Sunday will, of course, be with those men and women who are currently in Afghanistan, as well as the many men and women who have laid down their lives for the nation's freedom."
Her Majesty The Queen laying a wreath at the base of the Cenotaph in London
[Picture: Sergeant Ian Houlding, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
The events at the Cenotaph began today with two minutes' silence at 1100hrs, followed by the Last Post, played by an Armed Forces bugler.
The Queen then laid the first wreath at the start of a 20-minute religious service which was also attended by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, Prince William, Prince Harry, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Leader of the Opposition David Cameron, high commissioners from the Commonwealth and defence chiefs from all three Armed Forces.
Prince Harry laid a wreath for the first time, representing his father, the Prince of Wales, who is carrying out official duties in Canada, and politicians.
The thousands of veterans and civilians then marched down Whitehall.
Missing from this year's ceremony for the first time were the veterans of the First World War, as the last surviving British participants in that conflict, Henry Allingham, Harry Patch and Bill Stone, sadly died in the last year.
The passing of the World War One generation will be formally marked at a special service at Westminster Abbey, London, on Armistice Day, Wednesday 11 November 2009.
11 Light Brigade's Senior Padre Mark Christian conducts the service at the Remembrance Parade at Lashkar Gah Main Operations Base, Helmand, Afghanistan
[Picture: Sgt Rob Knight RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
Earlier today at Camp Bastion, the main UK base in Helmand province, around 2,000 British servicemen and women gathered with personnel from other nations in NATO's International Security Assistance Force to join in prayer, lay wreaths and remember fellow soldiers killed serving their country.
Around 500 British personnel from 11 Light Brigade also gathered at Task Force Helmand's Headquarters in Lashkar Gah where a piper played the lament and a Remembrance Parade took place.
Padre Mark Christian, the senior chaplain of 11 Light Brigade, said:
"When we remember we think of those seas of our comrades who have gone before us, the tens of thousands of people who have given their lives for our nation and for what they believe in.
"I think of our core values, courage, discipline, respect for others, integrity, loyalty and selfless commitment, the values which they espoused.
"Remembrance for me is picking up the gauntlet, it is steeling ourselves for the fight that lies ahead of us for if we do not do that their lives have been given in vain.
"We are here today to remember, we are here today to commit ourselves to the cause of peace and justice throughout the world."
Soldiers of Battle Group North West, formed around the Household Cavalry Regiment, taking part in a Remembrance Sunday service and parade at the Forward Operating Base in Musa Qaleh District Centre
[Picture: Captain James Horspool, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
Soldiers deployed at Forward Operating Bases throughout Helmand province also marked Remembrance Sunday, although, with normal operations continuing, not all Service personnel were able to attend. Other services will therefore be conducted elsewhere when the operational tempo allows.
Brigadier James Cowan, the Commander of Task Force Helmand, who attended the ceremony in Lashkar Gah, said:
"Remembrance Day is about remembering the dead of the Great War, the Second World War, and all those who have died since.
"Here we are in Afghanistan remembering those of our comrades who have died in this conflict.
"We've been at war now for nearly eight years, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it's a particularly poignant week at the end of which seven of our friends are dead."
Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield, also based at Lashkar Gah, said:
"The British Army has for generations had a way of dealing with the loss of our comrades on operations, we pause only briefly to reflect and remember our dead but we soldier on.
"This does not mean we are unfeeling or callous, nothing could be further from the truth.
Commander Task Force Helmand, Brigadier James Cowan, places a wreath during the Remembrance Parade at Lashkar Gah Main Operations Base, Helmand province
[Picture: Sgt Rob Knight RLC, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
"It is our job and our duty to soldier on, we cannot allow ourselves to be consumed with grief.
"The time for grieving comes when we get home.
"What we do is we remember our dead, not only those from recent conflicts but also those from the generations of our fathers and forefathers who have gone before us.
"The act of remembrance is one of the defining occasions in our military calendar, its significance to us runs extraordinarily deep."
As part of the UK's commemorations, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, addressed a service in Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire.
The Royal British Legion said it expected at least 90 per cent of people in Britain to observe some kind of service.