Parish Cake - Autumn 2018

WWI 100 YEAR COMMEMORATIVE FEATURE
Parish Plans for
100 years of
Remembrance
ANDY FAIRWEATHER
Throughout Great Britain commemorations acknowledging the
end of World War I are being planned, writes David Riddick
THE FIRST World War was a
very nasty affair on so many
counts. The horrors of living
and fighting in trenches -
open to every kind of weather;
being shelled for hours, even
days on end; enduring firing
from multiple machine guns;
being subjected to gas attacks
which caused blindness or
a painful death; the barbed
wire, the rats and the endless
mud. It was the first war in
modern times which involved
the civilian population, who
were bombed from the air and,
although naval forces fought
each other, enemy naval forces
also attacked civilian ships
thus threatening our supplies
of food and other items. With
the men away at the front,
women were required to work
in the factories and the farms.
Thus everyone was involved.
It was therefore
with gladness that we
commemorate the ending
of that war, although it
subsequently failed to live up
to its billing as “The war to
end all wars.” 100 years on, the
Cranbrook and Sissinghurst
Parish Council has agreed
that this commemoration
should, more than ever, be a
community event.
The national
commemorations are centred
around cathedrals and parish
churches. As a member of
the Royal British Legion and
churchwarden of St. Dunstan’s
Church, Cranbrook, I am
keen that St. Dunstan’s plays
its part in both the national
and local commemorations.
Fortunately, the 11 November
this year is also Remembrance
Sunday. The national
commemoration starts with
a piper playing Battle’s Over
on bagpipes at 6.00am outside
every cathedral and as many
parish churches as possible.
I hope that a local piper
will come forward and also
play at that hour outside St.
Dunstan’s.
The morning is devoted,
as usual, to the Acts of
Remembrance with the service
in St. Dunstan’s at 10.45am
followed by the parade to the
War Memorial where there is a
service and laying of wreaths.
The parade then heads back
down the High Street to the
Tanyard. This year, we will
have a saluting dais in front
of Lloyds Bank, manned
by parish and borough
councillors, and marching
contingents will be invited
to give an “Eyes Right” when
passing, followed by an “Eyes
Front” once they are past. This
is common in many towns and
cities in the UK.
EVENING ACTIVITIES
Plans are still in the making,
but the activities in the
afternoon and evening will
start at about 5.00pm with
various displays in the Vestry
Hall, St. Dunstan’s Church
and Church House. We will be
inviting local schools and the
Cranbrook Museum to prepare
suitable displays, and local
people to submit personal
stories about war in general,
which in itself will become
one of the displays.
In addition we will be
inviting local groups and
businesses to set up stalls
38 Parish Cake • Autumn 2018