We are what we remember. Where we have been, those we have met, what we have thought and done, combined comprise who we are.
It is in remembrance that personal lives are charted and the shared life of our nation too.
So, laying a wreath – as I have for each of the last 25 years – at Spalding’s Lutyens designed memorial in Asycoughfee Gardens, and later at the memorial in Holbeach, I did so on behalf of all my constituents.
For, irrespective of the things about which we differ, our shared respect for those, coming before, that made us who we are unites our community and our Kingdom in remembrance.
In 1918, on the 11th day of the 11th month at 11am, the armistice was signed, ending the first world war.
On every November since, the nation has paid its respects to those whose sacrifice in that struggle, in the second world war and in later conflicts, gave their lives in service to their sovereign and country.
The cenotaph, also designed by the architect Edwin Lutyens, erected two years later in 1920, has been the centrepiece of national remembrance for over a century.
Last Thursday I was privileged to lay a wreath there, invited to do so by the Western Front Association and, in particular, my constituent John Chester, who has been a linchpin in that organisation for many years.
Inscribed on that national war memorial is the straightforward tribute, “the glorious dead” – the glory of those lost in conflict in the service of crown and country is to have fought dutifully for an ever humbled and grateful nation.
Last Thursday in London, and here in South Holland on Sunday, all who attended, from small children to aged veterans, were united for those moments of silence, humbly bound in shared remembrance.
I want to thank all those who support the British Legion by selling poppies, all those who attended services and everyone who bowed their heads in remembrance.
Sir John Hayes
MP for South Holland and the Deepings
