The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Remember Them: The Great War 1914-1918
FOR A FULL ROUND-UP OF REMEMBRANCE EVENTS IN OUR AREA SEE PAGES 22, 23 & 44
Peterborough’s fantastic efforts to commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War have continued thanks to some sterling work across the city.
Schools, churches and mosques were among those to pay tribute to the sacrifices of those who served during the war ahead of Remembrance Sunday this weekend, while last Thursday saw the launch of Peterborough Commemorates Together
- a joint initiative between Vivacity and Peterborough City Council to reflect on loss, Remembrance, war and peace.
Ten silhouettes, which are representative figures of individual men and women, have been funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and are being placed in public spaces in Peterborough throughout November and December.
June Bull, local historian and author, and former city councillor, said: “Peterborough is rightfully proud of its record on community cohesion. As a city we not only welcomed the world’s first refugees – The Huguenots - but we were equally welcoming to Belgian Refugees during the First World War and to many Europeans during and after the Second World War, as well as to those caught up in more recent conflicts.”
St Botolph’s church in Thorpe Road, Longthorpe, held an event to commemorate the men who served in the war, including those who are named in the church.
The Saturday evening service included an exhibition, a poppy display and a programme of readings, poems, hymns, World War One songs and handbell music.
The readings were the stories of the men whose memorials feature in the church, such as John Horace Ebbutt, a local schoolteacher who enlisted in the Hunts Cyclists Battalion, fought on the Western Front and died of pneumonia in the Etaples Military Hospital in northern France, aged 31.
The stories of the local men who served were written by Jane Hogg, who was assisted by Mary Prendred and Jane King, a volunteer at the Imperial War Museum.
Pupils at schools across Stanground have also been playing their part to decorate St John’s church in Stanground with displays.
This included Southfields Primary School where parent volunteer Kim Moore organised the commemoration efforts, which saw Year 5 pupils create poppies from fabric, felted poppies and poppies recycled from plastic bottles and egg boxes.
Year 4 pupils have also written war poems and stories.
Last Saturday also saw a Remembrance event at Ghousia Mosque in Gladstone Street which included very rare exhibits on how the more than 2.5 million Indians, who were overwhelmingly Muslim, helped Britain and the Western forces during the Second World War.
Politicians, including MP for Peterborough Fiona Onasanya and Mayor James Palmer, attended, as did Assistant Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic from Cambridgeshire police.
Mosque volunteer Tokeer Tufail said: “This was the first ever event in the city at this scale to highlight the enormous sacrifice made by Muslims for Britain and we hope to hold an annual Remembrance day at Ghousia Mosque Peterborough.”
Members from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Peterborough have also been out in force for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and are on track to raise a huge £500,000 for the charity.