The Forest Remembers

For those people living on another planet or in the United States who may not be aware, today is Remembrance Sunday in the United Kingdom and Common Wealth countries. It is the nearest Sunday to the Eleventh of November when we traditionally pay tribute to our fallen Service Men and Women who gave everything for our freedom in the two World Wars and many other conflicts since. Why the Eleventh of November? Well that is the day in 1918 at eleven a.m. when the guns fell silent and the Armistice was signed to end four years of bloody fighting (The Great War did not actually end until several months later in 1919).

Each year at this time there are parades and church services held throughout the land to commemorate the 'Glorious dead'. In previous years I have taken part in such parades and services but this year I decided that I wanted to photograph the crowds who gather at the Airman's Grave in the Ashdown Forest. Because of the huge numbers of people who attend the service the Police and Conservators of the Forest decided to block off the approach road this year to avoid the mayhem of previous years. Therefore I left Mrs C in bed reading and Little dog looking forlornly out of the window as I set off early to the Forest.

It has been raining on and off for the past two weeks but today the Gods decided to smile on us and brought the sun out once again. I parked my car about a mile from the venue and walked in through the mud and puddles to my chosen vantage point on an adjoining ridge with panoramic views towards the Airman's Grave. For those of you unaware of this site, it isn't actually a grave but a memorial dedicated to the crew of a Wellington bomber that crashed here in heavy fog whilst returning from a bombing raid over Germany in 1941. There has been a small remembrance service held at the site for many years however recently it has become more and more popular.

I set up my camera and tripod early and waited for the appointed hour not knowing really what to expect. A short while later I could see a small trickle of people in the distance making their pilgrimage down the hill towards the grave. Within no time this trickle turned into a flood of people both on foot and horse back making their way down both ridges towards the site. Numerous pilgrims passed me, some with children, some with dogs, there was even a large walking group and running club all here to pay their respects.

As eleven o' clock drew near I could no longer see the Airman's grave because of the massed throng but could just make out the small rowan tree that stands sentinel over the memorial. On the hour I heard a bugler playing the last post and then a hush came over the Forest as everybody stood to attention for the two minutes silence.  This was followed by a fly past by two small private aircraft. I took loads of photographs of the gathered crowd and as they began to depart I walked down the hill to the grave to pay my respects and take some close up pictures of the poppies and wreaths that had been laid at the site. Although this year I witnessed the ceremony from afar I feel privileged to have been part of it. Next year Mrs C and I are planning to attend the full service.