Please stay at home for Remembrance Sunday

Stay at home to pay your respects on Remembrance Sunday and on Remembrance Day itself – that’s the message from Melksham Town Council.

Plans for a wreath-laying ceremony on Sunday 8th November at the War Memorial have now been cancelled due to changing Covid-19 restrictions. And instead, the town council is asking for the community to stay home and pay their respects by observing the two-minute silence at 11am on Sunday 8th November, from their doorsteps.

A spokesperson for the town council said, “The town council recently announced plans for a reduced Remembrance event at the War Memorial on Sunday 8th November.  However, since the Melksham News last went to print, military personnel received a directive from the government, prohibiting their attendance. 

“This means we are unable to hold an event in Melksham this year. People are instead encouraged to pay respects from their doorsteps at 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

“Alternatively, if you wish to make a private arrangement to lay a wreath at the War Memorial, please do so in your own time, but take great care to observe prevailing government Covid-19 security guidelines at the time of your visit.

“We trust you share our disappointment that the service cannot go ahead this year, but our key priority is, and must remain, the safety of the people of this town.  Many of our veterans too, will be of increasing years and therefore potentially more vulnerable to bad outcomes from this virus.

“Thank you to the Melksham News for their support in publicising the news regarding the cancellation of this year’s service. Thank you too for your understanding, and we hope to resume with the usual commemorations next year.”

Mayor, cllr Pat Aves, told Melksham News, “I’m sure that many of you were looking forward to attending the Service of Remembrance this year, which sadly has had to be cancelled due to the risks associated with Covid-19.  

“I ask that this year, instead of coming together to pay your respects to the fallen, that you please stay at home on Remembrance Sunday. If you wish to lay a wreath and pay your respects privately, by all means do so, but for your own sake, and the health of others, choose a day and a time when social distancing can be maintained. Thank you.”

Poppy Appeal organiser and member of Melksham’s Royal British Legion, Trevor Paterson added, “It is disappointing that this year’s service cannot go ahead as planned, but we must respect the town council’s decision and follow the government guidance to keep us all safe.

“Whilst we can’t all be together at the War Memorial, I hope that as many people as possible will still be part of the day by coming together to observe the two-minute silence at 11am by staying at home, standing outside their front doors.”

Sharing a personal message about what Remembrance means to her, cllr Aves said, “My dad joined the Army at the start of WWII and was in the REME. At the time of Dunkirk aged 21, he was stationed somewhere near St Nazaire and was among the several thousands of troops picked up about two weeks later by the SS Lancastria, which was bombed in the Channel on June 21st. It sank within twenty minutes. 

“I am led to understand that nobody knew exactly how many drowned that day, the ship was packed with troops, and only 2,000 survivors were picked up. He told us that the only reason he survived was because he just happened to be on the top deck, and he could swim.  It being so soon after Dunkirk, Churchill suppressed the news and it is still not widely known or talked about. After the war, dad sometimes went to the reunions in London.  

“It wasn’t until I was much older that I became aware that dad had also been in Burma. He had never talked about that. In recent years we have all become familiar with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To all the world dad might have seemed okay, but he had always been very difficult to live with, very moody and unpredictable, and I believe had clearly suffered with PTSD all his life as a result of his experiences. 

“Of course he wasn’t the only one, I recall hearing ‘It’s the war, you know’, said about some of the adults around me when I was a child. Dad was never physically injured during the war, but died aged only 62 with motor neurone disease. That’s what Remembrance Sunday means to me.”