Forty members of HMS Westminster‘s Ship’s Company marked Remembrance Day 2016 by travelling up to Westminster Abbey to form part of the Sunday Service at Westminster Abbey to remember the fallen.
The order of Ceremony firstly included a march to the Battle of Ancre memorial, a Naval Battle of World War One, particularly poignant for our Sailors.
Leading Seaman Bulleyment, who formed part of the Westminster Parade, travelled up to the Memorial with his family, who proudly watched on as Westminster marched through the crowds gathered around the memorial ready to walk to the Cenotaph.
The ceremony itself was particularly poignant, with Westminster Abbey Choir singing, and representatives from all three Services, who all stood to hear the last post in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Solider.
Leading Writer Feltham expressed her gratitude at being able to attend: “Out of all the Remembrance Services I have attended, this one particularly stands out, I feel a real honour to have been a part of it”.
After the ceremony, Ship’s Company travelled back down to the South Coast for a gathering of friends and family in Petersfield, where families were able to see their Mums, Dads, partners and friends in their No. 1 uniform and pay tribute to their personal sacrifices, of the time spent at sea deployed in national tasking.
Meanwhile, Westminster also marked Remembrance in several other ways.
Steward Finch, a newly qualified Steward who came to Westminster from HMS Raleigh, the Steward training establishment, met the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, when he travelled to Leytonstone Station in London to represent the Royal Navy opposite the Army and RAF to launch the official Poppy Day campaign.
He says of the event “It was a real honour to represent not just Westminster but the Royal Navy.
“It puts it all in perspective what you’re doing on board day to day, and I even invited the Mayor to come on board and meet our Captain”.
Whilst Steward Finch was over at Leytonstone Tube Station, 20 other members of HMS Westminster Ship’s Company were over at Westminster Tube Station in central London, raising money by selling Poppies to passing commuters, as well as the many hundreds (maybe even thousands?) of tourists that pass through the station on a daily basis.
This year, the sellers managed to help raise £13,400 for the Poppy Appeal, over 30% more than the previous year.
The Poppy sellers were accompanied by the Ship’s Executive Warrant Officer, Warrant Officer Johnson.
