Hundreds support city's Remembrance Day parade
Hundreds of people lined the city’s
streets on Sunday to remember those who lost their lives fighting
for their country.
The overwhelming support shown was described
as “hugely gratifying” by the president of Canterbury’s Royal
British Legion branch Gerry Ferrett.
He was speaking after seven-deep crowds packed
into the Buttermarket for the procession and wreath laying
ceremony.
Led by the marching band of the 3rd Battalion
of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, old soldiers were joined
by serving members of the armed forces, cadets and other service
organisations.
They processed down Burgate and gathered
around the memorial, where the standard bearers lined up for the
solemn ceremony and more than 20 wreaths were laid.
It was followed by a service of remembrance in
the Cathedral, led by the Dean, where the Archdeacon to the Army
gave an address.
He spoke about the men who had lost their
lives on the other side of the world in conflicts like the Battle
of Kohima and the families back home who did not hear of the loss
until much later.
He also talked about the act of remembrance
and how it was important to people in different ways.
Afterwards the parade marched down the High
Street and past the East Kent Yeomanry memorial outside Nasons,
where the High Sheriff Michael Bax and the deputy Lord Lieutenant
of Kent Tricia Shephard were among the dignitaries receiving the
salute.
The city centre also fell silent at 11am
around the Field of Remembrance in Longmarket, where a short
service was held by John Todd of the Canterbury branch of the Legion.
Afterwards Mr Ferrett said: “It was hugely
gratifying to see so many people out supporting the parade. I think
the crowds in the Buttermarket must have been six or seven
deep.
“I thought it was superb that there was such
rapturous applause for the parade at the march past in the High
Street and that people were giving so generously to the Poppy
Appeal.”
Among those in the parade was 88-year-old
Margaret Andrews, from Ash, who was proudly wearing her late
husband’s service medals.
She said: “I lost Percy, who served with the
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, in 2009.
But I had promised him I would carry on wearing his medals in the
parade for as long as I’m able.”
12/11/12
- Click here for more Canterbury news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...