Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Young and old gather to mark centenary of Passchendaele
A flock of grey pigeons was released over Canterbury on Monday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of one of the most devastating chapters of the Great War.
The act represented a symbol of peace at the end of a poignant service at Canterbury cemetery to mark the start of the Battle of Passchendaele at Ypres on July 31, 1917.
After three months of horrific trench warfare, 330,000 British and allied soldiers were killed or wounded.
The memorial gathering included veterans of later conflicts, servicemen and supporters, who were joined by the Lord Mayor Cllr Rosemary Doyle in the cemetery, where there are more than 100 Great War graves.
The 30- minute service was organised by the Canterbury branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) and attended by standard bearers from the Royal Signals and three branches of the Royal Artillery.
They were welcomed by Canterbury RBL president Gerry Ferrett, with the service led by Canon Paul Kerr and his wife Canon Jean Kerr.
It included the readings of two poems, one written by 17-yearold Canterbury College pupil Christopher Takacs, called Wartime Symphony and the other by Dan Lake, entitled On The Fields of Passchendaele. After the sounding of Last Post by bugler Edward Neave, of the Canterbury Corps of the Salvation Army, the pigeons were released by RBL member Richard Mummery. Following the service, the group visited the war graves and placed crosses on them.
Mr Ferrett said: “It was a very well-attended and moving service to commemorate one of the most tragic episodes of the Great War in which so many young men died.
“We were really pleased with the turnout and that the Lord Mayor attended and said a few words.”