Crewe held its traditional two-minute silence at 11am on the 11th November on the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. Thousands of attendees joined in with the traditional commemorations and showed a tremendous mark of respect for this significant event. The bells rang out from Christ Church for the first time in five years to mark the occasion.
The Parade Marshall Mr M. Kay QCBC COLDM GDS RBL organised the parade to and on Memorial Square. The Remembrance Service was led by Reverend Ken Sambrook from the Church of St Andrew with John the Baptist with a bible reading from Town Mayor Cllr Brian Roberts.
The Town commemorated the importance of this day by inviting guests from Macon in France which is a twin town of Crewe to the event and sent a delegation to Macon. The French tricolour flew on Memorial Square alongside the Union Flag to mark the shared relationship and history.
The Mayor of Crewe, Cllr. Brian Roberts said after the ceremony: “I am so proud to have had the honour of being the Mayor during this auspicious year. Not only did the people of Crewe come together in increased numbers but we were also able to welcome our French guests to the town in a spirit of fraternity which saw few parallels in the UK. In my opinion Crewe marked the 100th Commemoration in a way that was second to none, we shall not forget. I commend all those who organised and supported the event. Heartfelt thanks to one and all”
Deputy Mayor of Macon, Herve Reynaud and the President of war veterans association Jean-Claude Bernardet gave highly charged speeches to the assembled crowd in their native language. The passion and shared history shone through and both looked forward to the future stressing the need of generations to come to recognise past sacrifice.
(Images courtesy of David Bloor Photography (2018))
The event was supported by a huge number of organisations including 12 Royal Marine drummers, Crewe Bass, Cheshire Drums and Bugles, The Funky Choir, local RAF, Police, Fire and Sea cadets, local Scout organisations, the Red Cross and members of the Royal British Legion in attendance.
The centenary memorial service also featured a huge shower of poppies shot from cannons during the two-minute silence in what was one of the most talked about parts of the service.
The events marked the memory of soldiers from the first two world wars alongside later conflicts such as The Falklands War, The Gulf War and soldiers currently in Iraq and Afghanistan.
