Melksham remembers

MELKSHAM joined the rest of the country in commemorating the sacrifices made in the First World War which began 100 years ago last week.

St Michael and All Saints Church held a Vigil for Peace as they lit 12 candles, with one being extinguished on each hour, as a reminder of the remark attributed to British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey on the eve of the First World War; ‘The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our life-time.’

The extinguishing of each candle was accompanied by a reading from war poets and offered a time for prayer and reflection. The vigil was part of the Lights Out Hour commemoration which took place nationwide on Monday 4th August between 10-11pm to mark the centenary as Britain declared war on Germany at 11pm on 4th August 1914, ushering in one of the darkest periods in our history. Many people in Melksham observed the commemoration where for one hour people turned off the lights in their home and lit a single candle.

Rev Barry Blackford of The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels said, “It was the Great War that was meant to end all wars but sadly that was not to be the case. All we have to do is read our newspapers, listen to the radio or watch the TV to know that to be the case: Ukraine, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic, the list goes on and on!

“Here at St Michael’s church we felt it was important to mark the great sacrifice made 100 years ago. We are happy to mark the day with a service where people can come and pray and reflect on the conflict that took so many lives. We will continue to remember those that fought in the Great War and the other conflicts since, by having a memorial at the front of the church where members of the community can add to it and will culminate on November 11th 2018 to mark the end of the war. We will of course also host our Remembrance Sunday service as well as the one on November 11th itself.”

Alistair Banks the verger at St Michael and All Angels said, “It is important to mark the centenary and what happened 100 years ago. The Great War changed the way battles were fought as machinery become more apparent and sadly meant more people lost their lives.

“Today is an opportunity to pray and remember those that give their lives for us.”

Children, parents and staff of Seend Church of England Primary School also  came together with the local branch of the Royal British Legion, and village members to start four years of WW1 commemorations.

The idea came from the RBL who approached the school to see if they would be interested in a joint venture.  Children were asked to research a family member who was involved in WW1 or failing that, any aspect of WW1 that they were interested in and bring in any artefacts they had.

Members of the local community and RBL also provided items for a display and presentation that took place in the hall.

Nigel Knocker of the Seend branch of the RBL said, “Everybody was so impressed with the amount of effort the children had put in to researching their families and stories about the war, and the poems were so moving, with hardly a dry eye in the hall. The school staff have done a marvellous job in raising so much interest.”

Jackie Chalk, headteacher said, “There was such a variety of information on display and the range of artefacts were astounding too. It was lovely to see the village coming together to share the commemoration of this very significant period in history.”

Many people in the town also took to Facebook and Twitter to share a photo of their candle and thoughts of the commemoration. Adam Slade said, “My lights are out and my candle is lit, great to look out of my window to see so many lights out in Melksham. 100 years on.”