At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them
Prime Minister leads the tributes to Great War fallen
AS the nation prepares to mark the centenary of the First World War armistice, Theresa May yesterday reiterated those powerful but simple words: “We will remember them.”
The Prime Minister was visiting the battlefields of Belgium and France to pay her respects to those who gave their lives during the Great War from 1914 to 1918.
And tomorrow, 100 years to the day since the conflict ended, there will be an extraordinary outpouring of gratitude across the UK for the 887,858 British troops killed.
Yesterday staff at insurance market Lloyd’s of London paid their respects with a service of remembrance. Poppies were dropped from above as brokers and underwriters lined the balconies and escalators.
In Royal Wootton Bassett, Wilts, military veterans and residents gathered for the opening of a Field of Remembrance featuring more than 15,000 wooden crosses,
Tomorrow’s events officially begin at 6am as 1,000 pipers across the UK will play the traditional Scottish lament Battle’s O’er.
At 11am the nation will fall silent for two minutes in memory of the dead and at 12.30pm church bells will ring representing the sense of relief when the war finally ended.
Last Post will be sounded by more than 1,000 buglers before Beacons of Light are lit from Land’s End to John O’Groats, symbolising an end to the darkness of war and a return to the light of peace.
Large-scale portraits of war casualties will be drawn in the sand at dozens of beaches around the country, to be washed away as tides come in.
Yesterday Mrs May started her tour at St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons with her Belgian counterpart Charles Michel. She was sombre as she laid wreaths at the graves of the first and last British soldiers to be killed in the conflict.
Private John Parr of the 4th Batallion Middlesex Regiment lost his life on August 21, 1914, while Private George Ellison, of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers, died on November 11, 1918, at 9.30am – before the Armistice
came into effect at 11am. In a note left at Private Parr’s resting place with a wreath of poppies, the PM quoted a line of wartime poetry from The Soldier written by Rupert Brooke. It read: “There is in that rich earth a richer dust concealed.” At the grave of Private Ellison, Mrs May wrote: “They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted... We will remember them.”
The quote is from Laurence Binyon’s poem For the Fallen and is often used in Remembrance Sunday services.
During the visit, Mrs May and Mr Michel spoke to serving British and Belgian members of the armed forces. She then travelled to France and met President Emmanuel Macron in Albert, the town in the heart of the Somme region which suffered horrific bombardment. The leaders had a private meeting before departing for a ceremony at Thiepval Memorial.
It bears the names of more than 72,000 members of the armed forces who died in battle. A wreath combining poppies and le bleuet, the two national emblems of remembrance for Britain and France, was made for the occasion.
Mrs May said the visit was a chance to reflect on the time the countries spent fighting side by side in Europe but also to look ahead to a “shared future, built on peace, prosperity and friendship”.
She returned to the UK for ceremonies in London tomorrow.
US President Donald Trump, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Germany’s Angela Merkel and Mr Macron were all due to pay their respects at services in Paris.
Meanwhile, five Britons have received France’s highest military honour for their role in liberating the country during the Second World War. Ruth Bourne, 92, Joseph Randall, 95, Albert Avann, 93, Alfred Hicks, 93, and Thomas Stonehouse, 92, were each presented with Legion of Honour medals at the French Ambassador’s residence in London.
Ruth, of North London, was an Enigma codebreaker and Thomas, of Basingstoke, Hants, captured 12 Germans in Normandy. Alfred, of Verwood, Dorset, was a cameraman for a Royal Air Force unit which filmed the D-Day landings.
Ambassador Jean-Pierre Jouyet said. “It is a very great honour for me to recognise and express our country’s heartfelt gratitude to each of you, who helped liberate France during the Second World War.”