Southend’s Annual Remembrance Day Commemoration

The programme is as follows:

· 10am at Prittlewell Square – Veterans and members of other uniformed organisations will assemble with standard bearers
· 10:20am – parade lines up
· 10:30am – the Queen’s Colour Party will march to the head of the parade which then moves off towards the Cenotaph.

They will be followed by representatives of Southend’s faith communities led by Mr Mark Churchward of Southend Christian Fellowship who is chaplain to the Worshipful the Mayor of Southend, Councillor Judith McMahon. The parade will stand to attention until the Mayor arrives.

At 11am, the chimes of Big Ben will be heard.

The Remembrance Day Service begins with the playing of the Last Post and the exhortation - delivered by Mr Bryan Emery, past chairman of Essex County branch of the Royal British Legion. This ends with the words ‘We will remember them’ which will be repeated by everyone. Then the two minutes silence will begin.

The end of the silence will be signalled by the Reveille followed by the Kohima epitaph given by Mr Philip Hopkins of the Burma Star Association. Then the service will continue with the hymn: ‘I vow to thee my country.’ While this is being sung, the Mayor will lay a wreath on the Cenotaph on behalf of Southend residents and the members and officers of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council.

A Cross of Remembrance will be laid on behalf of War Widows, and other wreaths will be laid by the Essex county branch of the Royal British Legion, the Burma Star Association, the county’s Police, Fire and Ambulance services, and representatives of the faith communities. After some bible verses spoken by the Mayor’s Chaplain Mr Mark Churchward, the hymn ‘Abide with Me’ will be sung. During this, the Veterans Associations will lay wreaths. Then the Mayor’s Chaplain Mr Mark Churchward will lead prayers, followed by a reading given by Rabbi Binyamin Bar, an address by Mr Mark Churchward and then the hymn: ‘O God our help in ages past’ While this is being sung, Southend Youth Mayor and Youth Deputy Mayor, John Jenkins and Edward Feddon, representatives of schools, other organisations and individuals will also lay wreaths.

Mr Mark Churchward will give a blessing before the National Anthem is played. Then the parade will form up again and the Mayoral party will proceed to the dais between the Cenotaph and Prittlewell Square, to take the salute and march past. Hymns and other musical contributions during the event will be played by Southend Citadel Band of the Salvation Army, while the 1312 (Southend-on-Sea) Air Training Corps Band will lead the parade.

The Worshipful the Mayor of Southend, Councillor Judith McMahon said: “The Remembrance Sunday event is an extremely important occasion. “It is our chance to gather together to publicly honour and pay tribute to all those brave men and women who gave their lives in the two World Wars and other conflicts since. “We want to show our continuing gratitude to every one of them for making the supreme sacrifice in the service of others. “We hope as many people as possible will join us for the commemoration ceremony so we can collectively salute the heroism of those who gave everything. “It is even more significant as we keep reaching landmark centenaries of different aspects of the Great War, bringing events of this horrific conflict back to the forefront. “In addition we also welcome people to join the Armistice Day event at the top of Southend High Street for the two minute silence at 11am on Friday 11th November.” A number of temporary road closures will be in operation for the parade on Sunday 13th November.