Press Release: The annual Ipswich Remembrance Sunday service will take place on 10th November at the War Memorial in Christchurch Park at 10.50am.
The service, which is being organised by the Royal British Legion, will be attended by the Mayor of Ipswich, Councillor Hamil Clarke, local veterans, cadets, civic leaders and the public.
After the service, the Mayor will take the salute at the March Past near Christchurch Mansion.
On Monday 11th November at 11am, 95 years after the guns fell silent on the Western Front in the First World War, local schoolchildren will join veterans, the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mary Blake, at the Fields of Honour in the Old Cemetery for a service of remembrance. Each child will lay a poppy at the grave of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
First World War centenary
Meanwhile,the Borough Council is working with a wide range of other organisations to plan a series of events to commemorate the centenary of key milestones in the First World War.
These will commence with a special service and candle-lit vigil in August next year – 100 years since the world was plunged into a terrible conflict. In 2014, guests from Arras will travel to Ipswich for the Remembrance service, and then theMayor will go to France for a special service in the northern French town that suffered terrible damage in the war. Guests from Germany and Belgium will also attend.
Key events over the next five years are detailed below and more information will follow as the plans are developed. It is planned to concentrate on events that affected Ipswich during the war years, which will complement the national events being planned by the Government and the Royal British Legion.
Provisional diary for Ipswich commemorations 2014 – 2018
2014: This marks the 100 years since Britain declared war on Germany.
Nationally, there will be a wreath-laying service in Glasgow and a candle-lit vigil of prayer at Westminster Abbey.
Ipswich is looking at linking into the national events, with a civic procession and candle-lit vigil of prayer at the Cenotaph in Christchurch Park. The Mayor will be attending the Remembrance Service at Ipswich and also travelling to Arras, France for a special Remembrance Service.
2015: Ipswich will be hosting an Anzac Day parade and service in Suffolk to remember the Gallipoli campaign following a request by the Britain Australia Society. The Council and its partners will be working with schools to commemorate the Zeppelin raids on Ipswich. The town will also mark the heroism of Ipswich-born Victoria Crosswinner Arthur Saunders.
2016: This was the year of the Battle of the Somme, the great naval Battle of Jutland and the death of Field Marshall Earl Kitchener. The War Minister, who was High Steward of Ipswich, drowned en route to Russia. It is hoped to draw on Ipswich’s maritime heritage and festival to mark the Jutland exchange.
2017: The battles of Arras and Vimy Ridge and the slaughter at Passchendaele took place. Ipswich will join up with its friends in Arras to mark the centenary of the large-scale destruction of Arras and plans to hold an exhibition in the Town Hall here in Ipswich.
2018: The RFC became the Royal Air Force and the Armistice was signed. The Remembrance Services in November will be of extra special significance. The Borough Council is also considering a Freedom of the Borough ceremony in either 2018 or 2019 to mark the signing of the Versailles peace treaty.
