Silence fell across Liverpool today to mark Remembrance Sunday and the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I.
As red poppy petals symbolising our fallen heroes fell from St George’s Hall, thousands of people gathered around Lime Street and the city’s Cenotaph to commemorate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in wars and conflicts.
The mid-winter sun offered an unseasonal warmth as BBC Radio Merseyside’s Roger Phillips told the crowd of how 13,245 people from Liverpool perished during the First World War alone.
Before the solitary cannon was fired to mark the beginning of the two minutes’ silence, the parade was called to attention and Danielle Thomas and Jack Topping performed, accompanied by The Band of The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.
This year’s service also marked the 70th anniversary year of D-Day and the Normandy Landings.
Video report by Holly Jones & Jovan Stajic, JMU Journalism TV
Flight Lieutenant Phil Whitfield, Commanding Officer of Woolton Air Cadets, expressed her emotion as she remembered her father, who was a gliding pilot in Normandy. She told JMU Journalism: “I cry every time because this day, more than any other, it reminds me of him so much. I am so proud of him. I think of my father all the time.”
The Bishop of Warrington, the Right Reverend Richard Blackburn, introduced the prayers of thanksgiving ahead of the act of remembrance by the County President of The Royal British Legion, Sir Alan Waterworth.
Rev Blackburn said: “What better reminder of the cost of war than the symbol of a red wound near the heart of every person who wears a red poppy today?
“The poppy although it is blood red, grows as a sign of new life where everything else has been destroyed and is often the first wild flower to appear after a battle.”
The Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead, Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and Liverpool’s Lord Mayor Erica Kemp were then invited, alongside other key representatives, to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph, followed by war veterans, families of those killed and pupils from 21 secondary school in Liverpool.
Flt Lt Whitfield told JMU Journalism after the service: “It was so moving this year, I have never seen so many people here. We are usually here and see patches in the crowd but there was not that, everyone has been brilliant.
“The war changed our lives, our children’s lives and we need to remember everything they did for us.”
Photo galleries by Connor Dunn. Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the images
