WEST Oxfordshire residents gathered at war memorials and churches for services and ceremonies to mark Remembrance Sunday at the weekend.
And to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, there were additional commemorative events in Witney and Carterton during the afternoon.
In Witney, the traditional ceremony held at the war memorial in Church Green in the morning, attended by about 1,000 people, was followed by a service at St Mary’s Church and then a tree-planting event at The Leys, organised by Churches Together in Witney.
Eight oak saplings – one for each church denomination in the group – was planted at the recreation ground.
The Leys was bought for the town in 1920 using funds collected by town residents in memory of those who gave their lives in the First World War.
Dr David Adams, the chairman of Churches Together in Witney, told guests at the event: “We plant these trees in memory of those who gave their lives in times of conflict – they are divided in this life, but united in the next.
“Trees have been chosen, instead of a stone memorial, because they are living and we hope they remain a living memorial.”
Mace bearer Mike Bulley leads the parade through Carterton
After the ceremony, Witney’s mayor, Jeanette Baker, said: “The trees will stand proud and alive, representing peace and beauty.
“May they be watched over and enjoyed by those with memories and by generations of young people to come.”
There was another large turnout for the Remembrance Sunday parade and war memorial commemoration in Carterton.
Mike Bulley, the mace bearer to the mayor, led the procession, carrying a mace presented to the town as a sign of friendship in 2000 by RAF Brize Norton.
The parade to the war memorial, at the town hall, in Alvescot Road, followed a service at St John the Evangelist Church, in Burford Road. A two-minute silence was held there at the memorial at 11am, followed by the laying of poppy wreaths.
Mr Bulley, 84, a retired Royal Air Force engineer, said about 1,500 people came to pay their respects.
The great-grandfather-of-three said: “I was quite astonished at how many people came because of the special year. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people. It was very impressive.”
Army Cadet Ryan Scott at the service held at Carterton’s repatriation memorial garden
A short service and minute’s silence was held at the war memorial at 11am yesterday to mark Armistice Day.
On Sunday afternoon, an open-air ceremony to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War took place at the repatriation memorial garden in Monahan Way, on the edge of Carterton.
It was organised by West Oxfordshire District Council’s chairman, Carterton North East war councillor Norman Macrae and attended by representatives of the town council, Brize Norton Parish Council and RAF Brize Norton.
Mr Macrae laid a wreath on behalf of the district council and the Rev Bill Blakey, of St John the Evangelist Church, led a short service.
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