Will you remember them?

Tuesday 13th January 2026 10:16

Remembrance Sunday has always been very important to me because some of my friends have been deeply affected by their experience of war. For example, John landed in Normandy on D-day +6. He was an engineer and followed the army all the way to Berlin repairing damaged tanks so they could go back into battle. Rod was at university with me, he was a midshipman at the Falkland’s, and his job was to deploy the ship’s helicopter. He watched as the ships around him burned and sank and he was never the same again. Mark was a commando in the Falklands and because of his experiences there became a vicar and a padre with the territorials and did a six-month tour of duty in the hospital in Camp Bastion.

Today again about a thousand are being killed every day in Ukraine, and thousands more are being injured each year. There are no winners in war there are only losers. Thousands of bereaved families and even more injured people.

So let me encourage you to “Love your Neighbour”. If Russia had loved their neighbour, there would be no war in Ukraine. If Israel and Hamas had loved their neighbour, they would be able to live peacefully side by side. So, let's learn our neighbours' names and greet them by name when we see them. Let's open our homes to our friends and colleagues and have them come to a meal with us around our table.

There are two services on Remembrance Sunday 9 November 9.30am in church and 11.00am at the war memorial. Both include reading the names of the people who died in World war I and II and both include a 2-minute silence. I do hope you are able to join us for one or both.