Remembrance Day

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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Didn't think identical thread titles would be allowed by the software but alas...anyway, this one goes back to 2007 with Curiosity on page 1. :smile:

I miss that lady.
 

gerryh

Time Out
Nov 21, 2004
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It's all so easy to forget the sacrifices of the families of those soldiers....we should remember them also.


Did you mean the little pony?


We should, should we. Now why is that, because I've been told if we want to "remember" all the innocents killed in wars to find another day. Remembrance day is only for those that fought and died in the wars......oh ya, I've also been told that it is only for allied soldiers.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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I'll be watching this tonight:

SATURDAY 09 NOVEMBER

The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance 2013

BBC One, 9.15pm



The Royal British Legion provides financial and emotional support for those who once served or are now serving in the British Armed Forces. This moving annual festival, then, is the major event in the Legion’s calendar, the culmination of their fund-raising drive in the run up to Remembrance Sunday, which sees the public pinning poppies to their chests with pride. It’s been held at the suitably splendid Royal Albert Hall in London since the Twenties, and tonight’s gathering is both a solemn and an uplifting occasion.

There’s a matinee in the afternoon, open to anyone interested, but the evening showing, hosted for us by Huw Edwards, is an altogether grander affair, attended by the Queen and members of the Royal Family. Military displays, choral performances and prayers are a mainstay and we also hear from the bands of HM Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force.

But recently a lighter musical side has also crept in. In fact, this year, the British Legion ran an X Factor-style singing competition of its own, and winning band The Poppy Girls (below), the first girl group formed exclusively from Armed Service families, will be onstage tonight. Pop stars James Blunt (himself an ex-soldier) and Katie Melua will also perform, alongside musical theatre actor Alfie Boe and Britain’s Got Talent runners-up Jonathan and Charlotte. As ever, the occasion reaches its poignant finale with the release of poppy petals (without a silly white one in sight) from the roof of the hall, each one symbolising a life lost in conflict.


The Poppy Girls, the first girl group formed exclusively from Armed Service families, will be onstage tonight. They are Megan Adams, 10, Florence Ransom, 10, Alice Milburn, 13, Bethany Davey, 15, and Charlotte Mellor, 17, and a parent of each of them has served with the British Armed Services. Their single, The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye), will raise £80m for military personnel and their families



The Royal British Legion television advert - YouTube

The Royal British Legion highlights - YouTube

Highlights of the 2010 Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall:

Festival of Remembrance - The Royal British Legion - Royal Albert Hall - YouTube




A Lancaster bomber dropping 55,000 poppies over central London in June 2012 during the opening of the Bomber Command Memorial, in honour of the 55,000 airmen of Bomber Command who gave their lives during WWII
 
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Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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Last night's Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall was the usual emotional stuff.

Particularly emotional was the young girl who met her Armed Forces father again.

10-year-old Megan Adams was performing with her girl group The Poppy Girls, made up of five young girls who each have a parent in the Armed Forces. They were performing their new single - The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye) - which is released tomorrow to raise £80 million for the Royal British Legion.

The Poppy Girls - The Call (No Need To Say Goodbye) - YouTube

But it wasn’t the presence of the Monarch or the Prime Minister that left her in tears... it was the unexpected arrival on stage of her Royal Navy officer father after the performance.

Megan, ten, of Stirling, Scotland, had believed her father, Lieutenant Commander Billy Adams, was in the Seychelles where he is serving as part of the Navy’s war on piracy.

So when he walked on stage at the Royal Albert Hall, there was only one thing she could do – race to give him a welcome home hug. But the moment soon got to her and Megan was reduced to floods of tears.

The touching moment left many people in the Royal Albert Hall - including one or two Royals - in tears.

The reunion was one of the highlights of the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.

Host Huw Edwards had told Megan he had a special guest for her – and as Lieut Cmdr Adams walked down the steps, she burst into tears and shouted, ‘Daddy!’ before running towards him.


Megan Adams couldn't contain her emotions when her father Billy appeared at the Festival of Remembrance last night


Lieutenant Commander Billy Adams walked into the Royal Albert Hall to greet his daughter Megan. He has been serving in the Seychelles with the Royal Navy


The youngster was visibly overcome with emotion as she raced to be reunited with her father, who has returned three months early

Emotional: The reunion was one of the highlights of the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance 2013


Ovation: The Royal Albert Hall audience applauded loudly as father and daughter (bottom) left the stage


Sophie, Countess of Wessex wiped away a tear as father and daughter were reunited


The Queen smiled broadly and exchanged comments with Prince Philip and Princess Anne.

The audience applauded loudly as father and daughter left the stage – Lieut Cmdr Adams had arrived home from his mission three months ahead of schedule.

There was also a standing ovation for the Chelsea Pensioners, with the Queen and her husband rising to their feet as the men marched into the Hall.

Another particularly emotional moment came when the bereaved families of servicemen and women who lost their loved ones marched silently into the hall.


Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha joined a standing ovation for the emotional pair at the Royal Albert Hall last night


Teamwork: The Poppy Girls hug after their performance at the Festival of Remembrance in London last night


Megan had just performed with the Poppy Girls, a group made up of daughters of parents serving in the armed forces


It followed a short video that was played to the 4,000-strong audience, showing the mother of Lance Corporal James Ashworth, 23, speaking of her loss.

The soldier, from Corby, Northamptonshire, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross in recognition of his courage while serving with the 1st Battalion The Grenadier Guards in Helmand province last year.

The citation mentioned his 'total disregard for his own safety' in ensuring a grenade was posted accurately in the battle against an insurgent.

His mother Kerry, who led the bereaved along with her son Coran, also a serving soldier, said in the clip: 'He was just such a good lad. He did such a good job.'

As the widows, parents and siblings walked in, many members of the audience wept - with the Countess of Wessex among those shedding a tear.


Brave: Lance Corporal James Ashworth, of 1st Batallion The Grenadier Guards, was given a posthumous Victoria Cross


Before the festival the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh viewed the plaque commemorating the renaming of the South Steps at the Royal Albert Hall to Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Steps


The Queen and Prince Philip stopped to talk with well-wishers on the way in to the Festival of Remembrance last night

Samantha Cameron, the wife of Prime Minister David Cameron, also looked close to tears, while Labour leader Ed Miliband's wife Justine Thornton appeared emotional at the sight of the bereaved relatives.

The event was attended by the party leaders as well as other senior members of the Royal Family, including the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex, and featured performances from tenor Alfie Boe, singer Katie Melua and former Army officer James Blunt.

Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, along with British Legion supporters and serving members of the Armed Forces, were also among those in the 4,000-strong audience.

Performances by singers were interspersed with appearances on stage from bereaved families and survivors of past conflicts, including the last Dambuster, Squadron Leader Johnny Johnson, as the 70th anniversary of the raid was marked.


On a freezing night, Queen Elizabeth II is presented to members of staff, Honorary Fellows and benefactors at the Royal Albert Hall by Jasper Hope, Chief Operating Officer



(Top) The Queen and Prince Philip arrive at the Festival of Remembrance and (bottom) The Duke of Edinburgh, a World War II veteran, wore his own medals to the event, and paid particular interest to a display from members of the Royal Navy, the Army, Royal Air Force, Royal British Legion and civilian services

He was given a standing ovation and applauded for more than a minute as he stood with the Torch of Remembrance.

The festival also paid tribute to those who took part in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Prince Philip seemed especially keen to watch members of the Royal Navy, the Army, Royal Air Force, Royal British Legion and civilian services, and leaned forward in the Royal Box for a closer look.

The Queen will lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall today in memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in what is the focal point of the Remembrance Sunday events.



Read more: The moment Megan's Daddy came home from the war: Festival of Remembrance joy as Poppy Girl is reunited with sailor father in front of The Queen at the Royal Albert Hall | Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
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SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
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If brevity is the soul of wit........BL has just shown us why the Brits are boring........................

No, Brits aren't boring. Just one.

And that, folks, is coming from a CANADIAN, a denizen of a country which is generally viewed globally as the most boring country on Earth.

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=O-aAUpC8NcrQ0QWU6ICIBA#q=canada+most+boring+country

Then why do you bother to hang out online with them so much? Do you feel so inadequate that you need to surround yourself with people you have so little regard for just to make yourself feel all important?
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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No, Brits aren't boring. Just one.

Then why do you bother to hang out online with them so much? Do you feel so inadequate that you need to surround yourself with people you have so little regard for just to make yourself feel all important?

I didn't start this particular round of namecalling. I'm not the one to blame here. It's not my fault there are a few people with chips on their shoulders and an inferiority complex.
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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Fair enough. But fed up is fed up, **** will spill over. Just saying.

Not a big problem.

I likely should have prefaced with a 'Hey" instead of hoping the 'man' at the end intoned my psuedo-lighthearted feelings....I care but there is basically dick-all anyone can do to restrain or prevent anyone while allowing for personal opinions.
 

Retired_Can_Soldier

The End of the Dog is Coming!
Mar 19, 2006
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On my desk amongst my books, my photos and artwork there is a small bottle containing barely a palm of dirt. This was taken from the hallowed grounds in France just outside Courcelette where a young man named James Hayes was killed while he and another stretcher bearer carried another wounded man back from the front lines. Only a few days before he visited his brother Francis who had sustained an injury to his leg in battle and he even wrote a letter to assure their mother he would be fine and coming home. Francis would succumb to his wounds and James along with the other young soldier and the wounded man they carried would be killed later that week. The soil now dust, along with a piece of shrapnel were taken directly of James' grave and brought as a symbolic gesture that at least some of his resting place was coming home. James was 17 years old, while his older brother was 20. A third brother Martin would be sent home, but suffered the rest of his short life as result of exposure to chlorine gas.

Lest we forget the sacrifice made by young men and women, the death of innocents and remind ourselves that war should always be the last option.


 

SLM

The Velvet Hammer
Mar 5, 2011
29,151
5
36
London, Ontario
Not a big problem.

I likely should have prefaced with a 'Hey" instead of hoping the 'man' at the end intoned my psuedo-lighthearted feelings....

Psuedo-lighthearted feelings. Dude! You know the way to a gal's heart. ;)

I care but there is basically dick-all anyone can do to restrain or prevent anyone while allowing for personal opinions.

I know, hence the flippant commentary (on my part). Although I do try to watch what thread I'm in most of the time. Some topics deserve more respect.
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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BritishMonarchyVerified account ‏@BritishMonarchy

Yesterday The Queen, joined by her family, led the nation in honouring those killed in conflict since #WW1



https://twitter.com/BritishMonarchy/status/531781418893189120

BritishMonarchyVerified account ‏@BritishMonarchy

Remembrance 2014 is particular poignant as we mark #WW1Centenary, #DDay70 & the end of the #Afghanistan conflict



https://twitter.com/BritishMonarchy/status/531782652236677120

Prince Charles ‏@Charles_HRH

Lest we forget those who fought for our freedom. In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. #RemembranceSunday



https://twitter.com/Charles_HRH/status/531378233439424512