A big crowd assembled at the Cairn War Memorial in the High Street for Alton’s Service of Remembrance on Sunday. Many of them had also followed the uniformed participants in their parade from the Market Square. The Revd Tim Gomm, who became rector of the Parish of the Resurrection four months ago, led this year’s service. He said: “At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the guns fell silent on the Western Front to bring to an end the First World War. “And so we stand here today to remember lives sacrificed in the service of our country and those traumatised and injured in conflict. “May we have such a devotion to justice and freedom that the heroism of all who fought and still fight may continue to be remembered in a nation of service.” There followed a reading of Lamentations 3: 21-23, the Prayers of Intercession for service personnel who died in wars, serving service personnel and their families, civilians affected by wars, peacemakers and peacekeepers, and political, military and religious leaders, and the Lord’s Prayer. The gathering heard the story of how a soldier told a boy wearing the medals of his father who died in Afghanistan that his dad was always with him and his comrades at Remembrance services. There was the hymn O God, Our Help in Ages Past, the Lesson, St John 15: 9-17, the Last Post, the two minutes’ silence and Reveille before organisations from the armed forces to the Guides took their turn to place their wreaths on the Cairn. Next came the Legion Exhortation and The Kohima Epitaph, followed by the hymn Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, the Act of Commitment, the Blessing and the National Anthem, before the participants marched off to the applause of the crowd.
