Dear Friends,

In November, we remember those who left this village to fight for their country in two world wars and then paid the ultimate price for doing so. We keep silence and remember their valour and courage, along with their fallen comrades, in order to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. 

This year marks 110 years since the Battle of the Somme was fought. The first day of the battle saw 19,000 British Soldiers lose their lives, the largest daily loss of life in British Military History. The battle began in July 1916 and ended in November 1916. By then, over 1 Million men and been killed on all sides. Six miles of land had been captured and the world introduced to a new weapon of war; the tank. The rows of white Portland Stone tombstones found across Northern France and Flanders in Commonwealth War Cemeteries remind us of the tremendous sacrifice that was made, each grave representing a fallen soldier who was also somebody’s father or brother.     

History teaches us that war is sometimes necessary but only ever as a last resort. All peaceful means of resolving a conflict between different countries must be exhausted, before military action is embarked upon. The cost in human terms of any armed conflict, as demonstrated by the cemeteries in Flanders and Northern France, will always be high and that is something we forget at our peril.

On Remembrance Sunday, I hope you will therefore join with me in praying for peace and join in remembering the fallen and the sacrifices that have been made on our behalf. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

We will remember them.    

God bless,

Andrew