Salute to the fallen as town pays its respects
A s a lute h a s b e e n g ive n a guard on honour by veterans as they carried out a 24-hour vigil in the shadow of Seaham’s cenotaph and Tommy memorial in the lead up to Remembrance Sunday.
A group of 15 Armed Forces veterans took turns to spend an hour on duty on the Terrace Green as they joined in the Stag on in Remembrance fundraiser for the Poppy Appeal.
It began at 11am on Saturday, November 7, and came to a close at 11am on Sunday, November 8, when a moment of silence would have fallen during the annual Royal British Legion memorial service, which is usually attended by hundreds of people.
The idea came about after the coronavirus pandemic meant no events could be held, with Dave McKenna, of the Seaham Remember Them Fund, coordinating the effort.
The name was inspired by the term “On stag” which is a British army term for sentry duty, with the changing of personnel on the hour as they gave a salute to the cenotaph, with the vigil helping to mark the approach to Armistice Day while sticking to social distancing rules.
W h i l e th e u su a l c reative display laid out around the base of Ray Lonsdale’s Tommy sculpture had to be c a n c e l l e d to p reve nt p e o - ple from gathering, Dave is already thinking ahead to next year’s project and other ways to help the town pay its respects.
D ave, w h o s e r ve d a s a Colour Sergeant in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and is a Seaham Town Council member, said: “The public’s response to it has been posi
tive, people have understood it wasn’t going to be the usual service or anything else which cou ld normally be done.
"It’s something we wanted to carry out to still raise funds for the Poppy Appeal, which has really suffered because of the coronavirus.
"It’s been good to be able to do the Relief in Place, where we have saluted the cenotaph and that has drawn people’s attention and we’ve had a lot o f p h otog rap h e r s a rou n d who have taken photos as we changed on the hour."
Anyone who would like to add funds to the Poppy Appeal through the Stag on in Remembrance project can make a donation via www. go f u n d m e.c o m / f /s ta g - o nin-remembrance.