2015 Highlights Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph

The heart of London on a still autumn morning, familiar landmarks,

Westminster Abbey to the left and to the right the Palace of Westminster.

And down below Whitehall leading up to the Cenotaph.

Around this Portland Stone memorial, crowds are gathered, as they have

been every year for nearly 100 years, to remember and pay homage to

the British and Commonwealth forces killed in two World Wars

This year, after 13 years and over 450 deaths, British combat forces

were withdrawn from Afghanistan, but there as elsewhere in the world,

members of the Armed Forces remain - often in peril, always at risk.

Just a few weeks ago, Alan Scott

and Geraint Roberts were killed in a helicopter crash in Kabul.

And Lance Corporal Michael Campbell died earlier this year

after an injury in Afghanistan three years ago.

The Cenotaph was erected in 1920 to serve as a memorial for the dead

of the First World War, the war which changed the nature of war,

And now, nearly 100 years on, just as we did last year and will again

next year, we have, as a nation, been remembering those times.

At the War Graves Cemetery in Brookwood near Woking,

a new memorial to those killed in the First World War was unveiled

a few days ago by the Duke of Kent, president of the

of 264 men previously without memorials.

It ranged from John Nixon Brown, killed the day after Britain

declared war on Germany in 1914, to Clarence Edgar Morgan,

who died the very day the Armistice was signed four years later.

A place for families to come and remember.

Thousands of veterans have gathered in Horse Guards Parade,

Beyond the Cenotaph, up towards Trafalgar Square, they will line up

in seven columns waiting to march beside the memorial of the women

at war, past the Cenotaph, each contingent

Some come back year after year to share private memories

Often to march in memory of a father, mother,

grandfather or grandmother in honour of their service during the war.

The ceremony we will see here today differs very little from the

familiar scene. Her Majesty The Queen will lay a wreath on behalf of

the nation after the two-minute silence. There is a small change

this year, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is going to be here

laying a wreath after her marking the 70th anniversary of the

liberation of Holland in 1945. And then other members of the Royal

family will lay wreaths into macro groups rather than simply and senior

members of the Armed Forces will lay wreaths, politicians, High

Commissioners from the Commonwealth will lay there is too. The Massed

Bands under the Senior Director of Music playing here for the first

time raises his baton to start with as always Rule Britannia.

The Skye Boat Song played by the pipes and drums of the Black Watch.

The Senior Drum Major, Scott Fitzgerald of the

Coldstream Guards, brings the parade to attention and the Massed Bands

The numbers of the dead counted on this Remembrance Sunday is

always shocking and of course is the source of our

public grief, but every death is a place for private grieving.

Corporal Liam Riley served with the 3rd Battalion of the

Yorkshire Regiment, he died in Afghanistan in 2010.

He was killed by an IED, an explosive device planted

If ever you asked him what he was going to be when he grew up, he said

I will be a soldier, I will be in the army, and he never wavered.

He used to say, I'm going to be a soldier, I'm going to be a soldier.

My big brother Liam was a tall, friendly, loving guy who was just

He was really a high-flying young man in the Army.

But when he came home, he just left the Army behind him

He'd missed going with his regiment because he was doing

his Corporal's course and the Army wouldn't release him to go.

He actually came home and said, "How do they expect me to train other

young soldiers to go to Afghanistan when I've not been myself?"

And he was that adamant that he wanted to go.

And I think they let him go under pressure, to be honest.

After I'd got the news that Liam had died, my initial thoughts were,

I don't know how anybody goes on, losing a child, because it broke

But to lose a child, it's terrible.

On Remembrance Sunday, we go and visit his grave and give flowers

It's such an emotional day, but it's fulfilling for me in the fact

that you see people remembering not just my son, but all those who have

Remembrance Sunday's changed for me now because it's more poignant now.

You've got one of your own that you've got to remember.

And you're thankful that people do remember.

And I hope they carry on remembering.

I felt proper proud of Liam that he wanted to do the Army really bad

And it makes me very proud to say that he went out there

You've got to have them memories and have them good memories.

And I've got a photo of him - me, Liam and his granddad.

I sit here in the kitchen and his photo's there.

And I salute him every morning and I salute him every night.

And now Edward Elgar's haunting Nimrod The Hunter.

MUSIC: Nimrod by Elgar

The clergy procession leavig the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

building, and the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres.

Then the Major General, two mounted regiments of Household

Cavalry, Major General Edwards Smith Osman and Mike Wilmot.

Then the politicians come out led by David Cameron, the Prime Minister.

Those familiar faces from the House of Commons, Tony Blair, John Major,

They take their place to one side, Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the

Opposition, standing next to the Prime Minister, and Angus Robertson

from the Scottish National Party, Jim Fallon of the Liberal Democrats,

The Chief of Defence Staff, Sir Nicholas Houghton,

the First Sea Lord Chief, Admiral Sir George Zambellas,

General Nicholas Carter, and Chief of the Air Staff, Andrew Pulford.

And with them there the ambassador from Ireland.

And now the procession of High Commissioners from the Commonwealth,

46 in all, laying wreaths, each of them, on behalf of their countries,

most of whom played a part in the First and Second World Wars, some of

whom were absolutely crucial to victory, the Commonwealth countries,

Religious dominations emerging from the doorway. -- denominations. A

group that has gradually grown over the years. On the balcony, the Queen

of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima, next to the Duchess of Cambridge.

There's Tim Laurence, the Princess Royal's husband, and the Countess of

Wessex, on the right. There's silence now, as we wait for

the royal party. Her Majesty the Queen with,

beside her, the King of the And other members of the Royal

family, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince Henry of Wales,

the Duke Of York, the Duke of Kent, It is now just a few moments

before Big Ben chimes Last Post sounded,

the gunfire at the end of the two minutes' silence, and the Queen lays

her wreath on behalf of the nation. And now the King of the Netherlands

is handed his wreath by a general of the Royal Netherlands Army,

laying this wreath in commemoration His great-grandmother, Wilhelmina,

took refuge here during the And now the Duke of Edinburgh,

who served with distinction The other members of the Royal

family will lay their wreaths The Duke of Cambridge, Prince Henry

of Wales and the Duke of York first. All of whom have seen service

in the armed forces, the Duke of York in the Falklands, Prince

Henry in the Blues and Royals, the Duke of Cambridge in the Household

Cavalry, the Royal Air Force, and Then the next group of three,

the Earl of Wessex, the Princess The Earl of Wessex, an honorary

colonel of the Wessex Yeomanry. And the parade will be called to

stand at ease, and then the Prime Minister will be the first of

the politicians to lay his wreath. There has been some discussion

about which politicians should lay wreaths and in which order,

but it emerges that any politician leading a party with six members

in the House of Commons is entitled So the Prime Minister lays

his wreath, and he will be followed by Jeremy Corbyn, the new official

Leader of the Opposition. After him, Angus Robertson from the

Scottish National Party, who lays a wreath on behalf of the SNP and also

Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalists. Tim Farron for the

Liberal Democrats. Nigel Dodds,

the leader of the Democratic And the Secretary of State

for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Philip

Hammond, laying this wreath on of 14 overseas territories,

Gibraltar, Bermuda, the Pitcairn This more extravagant wreath with

flowers taken First, the countries that played

a huge part in both world wars, Canada and Australia, New Zealand,

South Africa and India. India had over 2.5 million

volunteers serving in World War II. Canada lost over 100,000

in both world wars. New Zealand, South Africa,

30000 and 20,000 dead. The next group is led off

by Nigeria, whose 82nd West African Division fought with

great distinction in Burma. Cyprus, 30,000 served with

the British Army after the German Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Jamaica,

which provided naval bases, Trinidad and Tobago, which provided bases for

the United States after the deal over destroyers, and Kenya, which

fought in East Africa and to have some members here

for the first time on parades The next group is led off by Malta,

who were awarded the George Cross, whose harbour was

so crucial to provide goods during the war in North Africa,

and which the Axis bombed Zambia, Singapore, Botswana,

Lesotho, Barbados and Mauritius. The Next Group Is Led By Swaziland,

Whose King Gathered Together A Group Of Young Men To Go And Fight With

Britain In The Second World War. Tonga, Fiji, Bangladesh,

the Bahamas governed by the Duke of Windsor, Granada, Papa New Guinea,

the Seychelles, the Commonwealth And The Final Group, St Vincent And

The Grenadines. Belize,

the Maldives, Saint Christopher, Namibia, Cameroon,

and finally two members of the Commonwealth who had no colonial

link, Rwanda and Mozambique. The next wreath will be laid

by the Ambassador from Ireland who served in World War

I, of whom 35,000 lost their lives. Admiral Sir George Zambellas, Sir

Andrew Pulford And The Chief Of The Defence Staff Standing Just Behind.

battle of the Atlantic. Merchant Navy, all important in the

The new chair of the National Chief Police Council there.

As soon as they are packing their place service begins.

O, Almighty God, grant we beseech thee that we who here do honour to

the memory of those who have died in the service of their country and of

the Crown may be so inspired by the spirit of their love and fortitude

that, forgetting all selfish and unworthy motives,

we may live only to thy glory and to the service of mankind,

# Short as the watch that ends the night

# Be thou our guide while troubles last

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest, to give and not

to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not

to seek for rest, to labour and not ask for any reward, save that of

knowing that we will do thy will, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine

is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen.

Unto God's gracious mercy and protection we commit you.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give

The Queen leads the Royal family away

from Whitehall, that part of the ceremonial here over.

The brief service and the laying of the wreaths.

The Duke of Cambridge will be going on to horse guards and he

will take the salute of the 10,500 people waiting further up Whitehall

They have been watching this service on huge television screens

They haven't been missing, they have been taking part, singing

goes back to the seventh century. of the Chapel Royal whose history

The Sergeant Of The Vestry And The Sub-dean And Bishop Of London, Dr

Richard Chartres. And after the clergy,

the politicians. The Speaker of the House of Commons

on the bottom right of your screen, And After Them The High

Commissioners. And shortly there will be space

created for the march passed to And the Royal British Legion

Scotland represented by Janet Harvey, and the Women's Section, the

national chairman, Marilyn Humphrey. The Royal Naval Association with

the distinctive wreath in the form In a few moments,

the march-past will start, and thousands will pay

their respects at the Cenotaph. Among them are veterans

of the Second World War, marking the 70th anniversary

of the end of this conflict. Four of those who served in that

war recall those difficult times. Everybody

around me was being called up, and I So I eventually got in the Navy,

because I was young and fit I went into the ATS in 1942 and I

worked on ack-ack. As a 14-year-old boy, I joined

the British Army as a boy soldier. The war started

during my boy service. And at 17 and a half,

they were desperate for paratroops, I got my wings in February 1943

and was posted to 656 Squadron, the only squadron to be posted to

the Far East. We were on the banks of the Humber,

and we were defending Hull. You could be in bed,

and the alarm would go. You'd jump into your boots

and grab your greatcoat. Your steel helmet would be there,

and you'd go. Sometimes we were called out three

and four times in the night. Hull was the worst-bombed place

in Britain that I ever saw. They wanted us to be ready

for the invasion of Germany, which You get to your drop zone

and you're at the door and out! And you go out of that aeroplane one

at a time, bang-bang-bang-bang-bang. When you jump out of an aeroplane,

the slipstream gets you, you know. And one got killed right

by the side of me, and I thought, We were street-fighting,

forest clearing, and that's when I got wounded, and I

lost two of my close colleagues. This leg, which was hanging on by a

piece of skin, I put on top of this And that's when I injected myself

with the morphine, because I knew The night the war ended,

I felt a sort of vacuum. the beginning of the end of my Army

life. And it changed my whole attitude

to ever so many things that I It changes your attitude

to all kinds of things. When the Second World War came

along, everybody grew up. Or a woman,

whichever the case may be. And I think to myself,

whatever the Second World War was, They say "War to end all wars",

but it never works. And I look back and I think,

"Will this world ever be peaceful?" I hope it will be, because it's

a wonderful world and everybody I always think

of a nameless soldier who had been washed down the Irrawaddy,

and his body was lying on the sand. For nearly a couple of weeks,

I flew out over him. I mean, there's an awful lot

of chaps out there we left behind, The reconnaissance core sets of the

march-past. The electrical and mechanical engineers, their job to

keep the equipment working. Before them was the armoury -- Army

catering Corps, all-important given their role in the front line, and

Army remember, marches on its stomach. The Queen Alexandra's

nursing Corps, recently deployed in Sierra Leone, where they had a

facility to look after people trying to treat those with Ebola.

The King's Royal Hussars regimental Association, their 300th

anniversary. They were raised in 1715, to counter the Jacobite

rebellion will stop they fought at Culloden and Waterloo and the charge

of the light Brigade. 606 -- 656 Squadron in their light

blue beret is, the reconnaissance Squadron. Served in India, Burma,

Java, Burma and melee. More recently, in Libya.

The British limbless ex-service men's Association, led by James

Chittenden, who served in the Parachutes. The Royal Hospital

Chelsea, led by the famous figure of Bill Speakman VC. Famously won

Victoria Cross in Korea. He is 88 years old now and was said then

after ammunition ran out to throw empty beer bottles at the Chinese

forces. the next line is led off by the Royal air forces Association,

commemorating their 75th anniversary at the Battle of Britain. Winston

Churchill said of that battle, the battle for France is over, the

Battle for Britain is about to begin. A famous speech which ended

with him saying, this was their finest hour. So the Royal Air Force

and the Royal Air Force Regiment Association and the head of the

parade that has passed us here has already reached Horse Guards,

whether Duke of Cambridge is taking the salute as they go past. They

don't just go past the Cenotaph, they go round on the Horse Guards.

The Duke will be taking the salute for the next half hour, or three

quarters of an hour, as long as it takes, for the eight Squadron

Association, eight veterans deployed to France, moved to the Middle East

and stayed in the Middle East for 57 years. They have had 100 years of

operations overseas, thought to be unique in any air force. The Royal

Air Force movements and mobile air movement Squadron, it's called. They

are here for the first time this year. They have been working at the

Ethiopian famine relief, in 1984. They helped the Russian rescue of

the submarine Kursk. The Royal Air Force Police

Association, with their white service caps, nicknamed the

Snowdrops. Established back in 1918. The Not Forgotten Association.

John Brunell Cohen, who landed on Juno Beach in 1944. This Not

Forgotten Association is one of the oldest of the charities. There are

various charities here today. They are representing all the services.

The soldiers, sailors, airmen and families Association, who suffer

their 130th anniversary. Leading it, Kevin, who served in the Middle

East and the Gulf War, and in Iraq. The Gurkha Brigade Association, the

200th anniversary of the creation of the Gurkhas. As an Army, serving the

British Crown. The Duke of Cambridge still taking the salute on horse

guards, as the procession round the bottom end of Whitehall and turns up

onto Horse Guards Parade. We rejoin it at the point where the Royal

Marines Association, their green berets, blue berets. They are all

trained to commando level before they get that coveted green beret.

HMS Bulwark, Albion and Centaur, those three ships. Bulwark, the

latest version of HMS Bulwark, involved in the rescue of migrants

from the Mediterranean earlier this year. The Fleet Air Arm officers

Association here. Now the Fleet Air Arm has been represented by various

parts of their service, the armourers' sick Association, the

Buccaneers Association, the national Far East Prisoners of War

Association. Marching for their 70th anniversary of the end of the war in

the Far East. The National pigeon war service. The juju messenger

pigeons were awarded the animal Victoria Cross -- 32 messenger

pigeons. It's the Dicken medal. The National Gulf veterans and families

Association. The wreath Berra, Nick -- Nicholas Lee Richards, served in

the Falklands, the Sudan and the Crown.

The families of those who fought in the British first Army, landing in

Algeria in November 1942. The Parachute regimental Association, in

their red berets, the Red Devils, they were called back, by the

Germans. They are actually maroon berets. Carried out the crossing of

the Rhine in 1945. The Rifles regimental Association

next. Among those marching, Lisa Inns, whose son was killed. She and

her daughter there. A touching sight.

Here for the first time, the Kings African rifles. There wreath layer,

they have travelled from Kenya to take part in this march-past today.

One of the veterans last marched here in 1946. Joseph, in the victory

parade, in front of George VI. Over 100,000 Africans fought

in the Second World War and they are They bore the brunt

of the fighting in east Africa They were laying a wreath on behalf

of the Women's Land Army and the women's Timber Corps.

The Scout Association, led by Jags, whose great-uncle lost his life

during the First World War. For those young people, a reminder of

what these events are all about as this ceremony draws to a close. It

is a commemoration to which everyone, I suppose, brings their

own private thoughts, and from which they take their own different

memories. We have been hearing some of them. It's now nearly 100 years

since the Cenotaph was the focus of national mourning for those killed

in the war, which exceeded in its horror anything that was then

thought conceivable. But it was next the focus for those who lost their

lives to defeat fascism in the second Great War of the 20th

century, a war which ended in the hope that peace might follow. They

hope that eludes us, year on year, as we mourn more young lives cut

short by death, all four of the changed by injury. -- or forever

changed by injury. It's not really the glory of war that is

commemorated here, so much as the horror. Lest we forget. From London,

goodbye. He's in an exotic land. In the far

reaches of northern Europe. A place of unbelievable history,

myth and legend. ..as he discovers a different

kind of Ireland.