Guernsey Press

Beacon ends ‘emotional’ Remembrance Sunday

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY was an ‘emotional’ but successful experience, with each ceremony uniquely moving.

Published
Bailiff Sir Richard Collas lights a beacon at Castle Cornet, joining over 1,000 locations in the Britain Isles and the Overseas Territories in the ‘Battle’s Over’ tribute to end Remembrance Sunday. (Picture by Andrew Le Poidevin, 23080476)

Bailiff Sir Richard Collas was speaking before he lit the Castle Cornet beacon, to join more than 1,000 locations in the Britain Isles and the Overseas Territories in the ‘Battle’s Over’ tribute.

Sunday marked 100 years to the day since the guns fell silent on the battlefields of the First World War.

‘It has been a very moving day with all the commemorations, each one evokes different memories and different thoughts,’ said Sir Richard.

‘It all went better than I had hoped, I have just been surprised how emotional I have found it.

‘The service at Fort George was very poignant and it was the biggest crowd I have ever seen at the War Memorial in Smith Street.

‘While at the one at the harbour we laid a wreath for those who were killed in the bombing raids, there are always people present who witnessed it and some who lost relatives – my own grandmother’s driver was one of those, so I find that very moving.

‘Laying the wreath for the slave workers was emotional, nobody knows how many of them died, and nobody knows their names.

‘It just all evokes different emotions, but every time it is an individual who had a mother and a father, families, some wives, some sweethearts, every death was a tragedy.’

The Baliff’s sentiment was echoed by Dean of Guernsey the Very Rev. Tim Barker, who led each of the ceremonies. ‘It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve had the privilege of leading all the services, which means I may be viewing them all from a certain different standpoint,’ he said.

‘I’ve had a variety of different emotions, the small gathering around the forced labour monument is deeply poignant. The fact that there are no names, we don’t know who they are, that struck me in a new way. The mood in Guernsey is so different than in the UK and that’s been the real surprise. It has been a huge privilege.’

After the Bailiff lit the beacon atop Castle Cornet there was a calmness among the crowd and a feeling of solidarity as the fires in Herm, Jethou, Alderney and Jersey slowly started coming to life.