Luton parishes come together to remember the fallen

The Parish of Luton, St Anne with St Christopher has celebrated the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War.

During this Remembrance Weekend over 200 people visited St Anne and St Christopher’s churches, on Saturday, to reflect and contemplate on the past while looking to the future.

They looked at the displays of thousands of community made poppies, memorabilia of locally connected service personnel and silhouettes of Tommies, courtesy of the Armistice and Armed Forces Communities programme, and to drink tea, eat cake, and listen to WWI music and poetry.

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The weekend concluded with Sunday’s three-part Remembrance Day service. Over 50 people gathered at St Christopher’s for the first part of the service, approximately 70 gathered at the War Memorial in Crawley Green Road Cemetery, where Ben Lewis played the Last Post and the Reveille. Wreaths were laid by Anthony Palmer on behalf of the RAF, Peter Tomlin representing the army and a young scout for all in the St Anne’s Scout Troop.

As the names of those to be remembered were read out, brownies, beavers, cubs and scouts placed painted remembrance stones at the base of the War Memorial.

The service concluded with over one 130 people in St Anne’s church. The whole service was concluded with a shared lunch. All who attended concluded it had been a very special Remembrance Service, with many commenting that they had valued the act of Remembrance taking place at the War Memorial.

This was the first time in living memory of those in attendance that the War Memorial in Crawley Green Road was used for an act of Remembrance, all the more poignant as it is surrounded by many of the war graves of service personnel from this town.

Poppies will remain on display for the next ten days.