14
Nov
Ripon's younger generation keeps Remembrance alive
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A sign near the gate at Ripon’s Spa Gardens summed up the reason why Remembrance Sunday is so important to this and future generations.
In a year that has seen the 80th anniversaries of VE Day, VJ Dy and the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the message ‘Lest We Forget’ had added resonance, as hundreds of Ripon citizens and civic guests bowed their heads for two minutes to remember the soldiers, sailors and airmen who paid the ultimate price.
The poignant sign
With the sappers of 21 Regiment of the Royal Engineers called to duty elsewhere, the parade from the gardens to Ripon Cathedral led by Ripon City Band, included veterans from all armed forces proudly marching behind the standard bearers.
A noticeable feature of this year's event was the number of young people and families, which heartened Mike Chambers, the recently-appointed president of the resurgent Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion.
The retired squadron leader, who served for 35 years in the RAF, told the Stray Ferret:
Scouts, guides and brownies were among the young people at last Sujnday's Remembrance event.
It was a privilege and pleasure to join with so many people from our great city at last Sunday’s service of Remembrance in the Spa Gardens. Despite, the absence of our valued 21 Engineer Regiment, deployed on an important exercise, the service was a fitting tribute to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country in two world wars and in subsequent conflicts.
Mike Chambers is pictured laying a wreath at Ripon War Memorial on Battle of Britain Sunday in September.
He added:
Particularly heartening, was the presence of so many young people paying their respects, Army and Air Force Cadet organisations, Scouts, Guides, local schools and families with young children.
It is good that our younger generation are given the opportunity to remember. I hope that in understanding the importance and value of remembrance, that our young people will come to understand the futility of war in seeking to resolve differences and that they will determine that in the world they inherit, conflict is never a way forward
Though he in only eight, Shane Weidemann (pictured with his grandfather, a veteran of the Rhodesian Army) has, become a regular attendee at Ripon's Remembrance Sunday services
At the other end of the age scale, 101-year-old Bill Donovan, who lives at the RBL's Lister House Care Home in Ripon, was joined by members of Harrogate Branch iof the Merchant Navy Association, as they showed respects to colleagues and comrades who died during the Second World War.
Bill Donovan with members of the Merchant Navy Association.
Bill, who at the age of 19, was a Royal Navy gunner who sailed on Atlantic Convoy ships that delivered crucial supplies to support the British war effort, lost a hand while serving his country and on Remembrance Sunday, association members John Clarry, Adrian van Toren and Dan O'Brien presented him with a framed certificate, as he became an honorary member of the association.
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