WE WILL NEVER FORGET THEM
THE Duchess of Cornwall led Britain in silent tribute yesterday as the nation kept its promise to never forget its fallen war heroes.
As Camilla represented the Queen at a poignant Westminster Abbey service, towns, cities and villages came to a standstill for two minutes at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
This year’s Remembrance Day was especially important because Covid restrictions prevented most people from paying their respects in 2020.
So yesterday’s scenes – when hundreds of thousands stopped to pay tribute to the heroes who died for our country – were in stark contrast to the deserted monuments at the height of the pandemic.
The Queen, who has been advised to stick to desk duties after her recent health scare, marked the occasion by authorising aides to post a 2004 Remembrance Day photograph of her on Instagram.
Her daughter-in-law, Sophie Countess of Wessex, attended an Armistice Service in Bedworth, Warwicks, and laid a wreath at the town’s war memorial.
And the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were at a packed service at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Alrewas, Staffs. At the Westminster Abbey service – attended by hundreds of veterans, senior clergy and military top brass – Camilla wore the green of the Rifles. She became a colonel of the regiment after the late Prince Philip passed the honour on to her.
The Duchess laid a symbolic floral tribute at the grave of the unknown warrior. Her bouquet included red garden roses for love and devotion, thyme for strength and courage, bay for merit, lavender for protection and rose hips as a symbol of farewell.
Last year, she visited the 752-year-old abbey flanked by just a handful of guides.
This year, as the UK recovers from Covid, she was in bustling company as she placed a small wooden crucifix on top of a large poppy-covered cross at the abbey’s Field of Remembrance.
Other dignitaries in-cluded
Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis, president of the Poppy
Factory, which has been organising the Field of Remembrance since November 1928.
What began as just a handful of poppies, grew into the moving modern spectacle, with tens of thousands planted on tributes there every year.
Camilla also spent time viewing regimental memorial plots and meeting representatives of the Armed Forces. The Duchess’s presence was warmly welcomed by the veterans who had turned out in force.
Chelsea pensioner Major Hugo White, 91, said: “It is very important to have the Duchess here today as she is a member of the Royal Family who we look up to.”
Greg Hedges, 56, of the Staffordshire Regiment Association, chatted to Camilla as she stroked his Staffordshire bull terrier mascot, Corporal Watchman VI. The former
Warrant Officer 2nd Class revealed: “They’ve met before.”
He added: “It’s important to have that representation and to remember those who have died.”
Arthur Barty, who was the Queen Mother’s driver for 27 years, was representing his former unit – the Black Watch – agreed. He said: “It’s vital we keep this tradition alive of commemorating the fallen.”
Peter Fullelove, 88, another Chelsea pensioner and Black Watch veteran, joked: “I asked if she stopped because she liked the colour of my coat. She said she did.”
Camilla also met Alice Wingate Pearce, grand-daughter of Major General Orde Wingate, who founded of the famous Chindits jungle warfare troops.
Alice said afterwards: “It’s a great honour to be here, I haven’t done this before.
“I explained my grandfather’s medals to the Duchess and she said, ‘Wonderful’.”
As more wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph in London, politicians paid their respects. Prime Minister Boris Johnson observed the silence at 10 Downing Street and Labour leader Keir Starmer laid a wreath at London’s Euston Station.
In Glasgow, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined COP26 President Alok Sharma to lead delegates paying tribute at the climate change summit.
As Big Ben began to chime, crowds fell silent at railway stations. A Merseyside fire crew stood alongside a giant poppy made of hoses. And in Burton-on-Trent, England football manager Gareth Southgate and his players paused training to pay their respects.
They remembered them too on the other side of world. Poppies were projected onto the famous opera house in Sydney, Australia.
Thousands also observed the silence in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast and Dublin.
In Belfast, First Minister Paul Givan laid a wreath at the City Hall garden of remembrance. In Edinburgh, veterans and government officials gathered at the garden of remembrance, while the silence was ended by a single gun salute from the castle.
For one little girl in the city, a one-year-old called Grace Pettie, yesterday was her first Remembrance Day. But the nation has vowed the tradition will carry on for ever.
Jim Wilson, general secretary of Veteran Scotland, said: “It’s really important to have the opportunity to remember.
“It does make a difference for people, to step back and think about the sacrifices that people have made during the Great War, World War Two and all the conflicts beyond.”