THE First World War has become a distant memory but Ipswich showed this Saturday that it does still remember.
On a warm, cloudy morning, a large crowd gathered to pay their respects to the fallen as they attended a service at the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall.
Among the crowd were schoolchildren who are the sons and daughters of today’s defence force. They came to lay wreaths in honour of the generations who went before, so that the remembrance ceremony forged a chain between those who have sacrificed and those who might one day be called upon by our nation.
As 14-year-old bugler Charlotte Strong sounded the Last Post, attendees bowed their heads, each embracing their own memory, perhaps of a fallen relative, perhaps of a living uncle, cousin or even sibling in the defence force.
Doves were released into the sky, representing the earnest wish of those present that peace should prevail in the world, a sentiment voiced by the Reverend Dr Peter Woodward in the prayers he offered.
Later, the mayor of Ipswich, Teresa Harding, dedicated plinths remembering conflicts that were not – before this week – memorialised at the Memorial Hall. Among those to place a wreath was RSL dynamo Deb Wadwell, overcome with emotion at the culmination of a service she had worked hard to bring to fruition.
The city gathered to pay its respects to service men and women who have given so much to our country.
