Remembrance Service
Friday, 10th November 2023, Moriah Church Risca
Ian, centre photo, on Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph in Risca waiting to lay a wreath on behalf of RMC
This is always a very meaningful event for many people in Risca including some of us in the choir, myself very much so. Participants included Croskeys Silver Band, Ty Sign Primary and Junior School, Risca Community Comprehensive School, Risca Primary School and, of course, Risca Male Choir.
The service started with the presentation of the Royal British Legion standard and the standard from the Air Cadets Service.
A warm and heartfelt welcome was given by the Reverend Marc Owen, who always states exactly what everyone is feeling, and brings forth the reason why we hold such events.
Crosskeys Silver Band played two very moving pieces, In Flanders Fields and Lady Stewart’s Air. This was then followed by Risca Male Choir, which sang Sunset Poem, a last minute change due to numbers, but as always, a very moving and well delivered piece sung with feeling and reflection….. followed by the patriotic piece of O Gymru! again sung with pride and conviction. Both pieces where very warmly received by all at the service.
Ty Sign Primary followed with Salute my Hero and This Remembrance Day both sung with great enthusiasm. And it must be said that it is so good to see the future generations remembering history and acts from the past.
Year 8 pupils of Risca Comprehensive School then read two poems, and we heard two more pieces from Criosskeys Silver Band, Abide with Me and Spirit Within. These were followed by Risca Primary School singing Pass it on and Remembrance Day.
It was then the turn of Risca Male Choir once again to sing for the audience with the following two pieces, Where Shall I be? a very moving and thought provoking spiritual, and Gwahoddiad, a Welsh hymn which again was sung with meaning and warmth by all in the chior.
As stated at the beginning, this is a very meaningful event for so many, a feeling that was reflectd in the reading by Graeme Whitcombe, who gave his own personal experiences of life, both in the army and outside. He focussed very much on a subject that needs to be more freely discussed and brought to the minds of many, and that is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). This is an illness very meaningful to myself as I was diagnosed with it back in 2018. Fortunatly, I had close friends and family to help me get the support I needed. Unfortunatly, many such individuals do not have that luxury and sadly end by taking their own lives.
We then had the Exhortation and Last Post, and a well respected and profound 2 minutes silence. This was followed by the Reveille and Kohima Epitaph. The service ended with the Welsh National Anthem.
I must say, being part of such a service always brings thoughts of brothers lost during confilct, and indeed, my own time in the armed forces serving with the Royal Navy. However, nothing gives me more pride than to sing with Risca Male Choir, especially on such occasions as these.
Lest we forget – At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them……
Ian Meredith: (Ex Royal Navy)
1st Tenor
