Remembrance returns with strength and pride
BRITAIN’s proud military veterans were back marching yesterday with chests brimming full of medals to the delight of applauding crowds.
A year after the Covid-19 pandemic caused annual ceremonies all over the country to be muted, it was a return to normal service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, central London, and at events all over the country in the centenary year of the Royal British Legion.
In Whitehall last year, 21 men and four women selected to represent the nation’s veterans took only 85 seconds to march past the Cenotaph and lay their wreaths after the national service of remembrance.
More than 8,000 veterans took 43 minutes to complete the same task yesterday on a sombre morning for so many but also one that brought pride, elation, and emotion to those who spent their finest days serving the country.
The crowds crammed into Whitehall seemed larger than normal and thousands sang God Save the Queen with more gusto and emotion than usual on a day when concerns over the 95-year-old monarch’s health played heavy on the nation’s mind. “It would be nice if the boss was here,” Royal Navy Petty Officer Ben Shread, of the Combat Camera team, said. “So if there is a reason she is not here it must be a very serious one. “We all wish her well.” Beneath gunmetal grey skies, the crowds watched on and observed a two-minute silence while only the rustling of trees and the chirping of birds could be heard.
Around 90 years separated the oldest and youngest participants on parade.
Tim Farmiloe, 98, a former warrant officer in Coastal Command was thought to be the oldest. “This is the first time I’ve taken part and I found it very moving,” he said.
The youngest were a group of children aged eight, including Evie Hebden, whose Royal Marine father, Ralph Hebden, was found dead in 2013 after a suspected fall from a cliff path near his home in Arbroath, Scotland. She was among a group of 45 children in the parade from the charity Scotty’s Little Soldiers, set up to support those who have lost a parent in the Armed Forces.
The military family was joined on parade by a new organisation: Fighting with Pride, the first-ever LGBT+ group at the Cenotaph. LGBT+ people were banned from serving in the forces until 2000 and many were dismissed.