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11
Dec 2022
Candlelit Christmas service to remember Harrogate war dead
More than 1,000 servicemen who died in the two World Wars are to be honoured at a candlelit Christmas remembrance event in Harrogate.
Members of the public are invited to join the event, which will be held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) site at Stonefall Cemetery on Sunday, December 18 at 3.30pm.
Visitors will be provided with battery-operated tealights to place on the graves of the fallen, which will be followed by a short service of remembrance.
Stonefall is one of the largest CWGC sites in the North of England and holds 1,013 Commonwealth casualties, 988 of them airmen who died during the Second World War, when Bomber Command bases were established across Yorkshire.
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Two thirds of these are Canadian – including two 17-year-olds – and there are also graves of servicemen from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and the Caribbean. Many of them died in the military wing of Harrogate General Hospital.
Local resident Benji Walker, who conceived and organised the event, said:
Mr Walker, who has a son serving in the Yorkshire Regiment, will be using the event to raise money for the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and Help for Heroes. Members of the public can sponsor a candle with the profits being split between Help for Heroes and the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation (CWGF).
CWGC public engagement coordinator Elizabeth Smith said:
Those wishing to attend the service are advised to dress warmly, wear appropriate footwear, and bring torches. The meeting point is the war graves plot adjacent to Forest Lane. Parking is available in the cemetery car park off Forest Lane.
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