It is a bright, crisp autumn day: it is also Remembrance Day, so I set off on my bike to Bournemouth Central Gardens War Memorial, to pay my respects to those that made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of liberty. As always, large crowds arrive for the parade and service, whatever the weather, and today it is performed in brilliant sunshine.
Apart from the two minute silence at 11am - the time the 'guns fell silent' - it is difficult to keep shooting with a camera without causing an offence to others taking part, so I restrict any photography to before, or after the tribute is over. I have to wait a while to allow those that wish to get a closer look at the wreaths laid by v
arious dignitaries
, ex-servicemen and women, and various youth organisations, but once the numbers thin out I am able to get in close.
There are several proud veterans of past conflicts - and others that simply lived through it all - that linger to read the cards and messages left with the poppy rings and crosses, who are all too ready to tell their story to anyone prepared to listen. I talk to two such people; Ken (pictured left) and an elderly lady called Margaret, who's father was a witness to Louis Bleriot landing near Dover Castle, Kent, in 1909.
There are also a good many, both young and old alike, who are clearly there in memory of someone lost in a more modern campaign, as with the foremost wreath in the photograph (right). It is for Rifleman Jonny Allott, a local man, who was only 19 years old when he was killed in 2010 by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. The oldest commemoration I was able to find was the cross bearing the name of Harry Broadhurst (top photo - far left) - a member of the Cheshire Regiment - who died at Ypres in 1917.
© 2012
1 comment:
Lovely. :)
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