Henley Invited to Gather for Remembrance
A fly past (weather permitting) over Market Place, at 10:46am, courtesy of RAF Benson will start the Remembrance Service on Sunday (14 November).
The Mayor, Councillors and Town Clerk will then gather on the Town Hall steps, led out by the Town Sergeant James Churchill Coleman shortly before 11am.
The Mayor’s Chaplain, Father Jeremy Tayler, Rector of St Mary’s, will start the service shortly afterwards. There be will a reading from Anne Evans, Chairman of the Royal British Legion Henley & Peppard Branch before the last post is sounded at 11am.
A Reveille will mark the end of the two minutes’ silence and Anne will then read the Kohima Epitaph by John Maxwell Edmonds.
Prayers will be led by Fr. Jeremy and the hymn Jerusalem will be sung. In addition to the Mayor’s Address, there will be readings from The Town Clerk, Sheridan Jacklin-Edward and the Mayor’s Cadet, Corporal Grace Iveson, before the laying of the wreaths.
Wreaths will be laid on the Town Hall Steps by Lady Cynthia Hall, Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, Councillor Sarah Miller, Mayor of Henley on Thames, Councillor Stefan Gawrysiak on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council, a representative from South Oxfordshire District Council, and a representative from the Royal British Legion.
Wreaths will then be laid by local organisations and members of the public.
After the service ends, participants will parade around the Town Hall and Market Place. The Mayor will then welcome all attendees to a reception in the Queen Elizabeth II Hall in the Town Hall. Mayor of Henley, Councillor Sarah Miller said, “On behalf of the people of Henley, I am proud to commemorate the brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom. It is very important to me that we can all gather in person to honour their memory this year. I would encourage everyone to come back to the Town Hall to join us all for refreshments. Remembrance is a special time for the town, to commemorate those we lost, and to meet old friends, this year is particularly poignant as COVID restrictions meant that we were not able to gather in the Town Hall in 2020. I’m so glad we can do so now and I look forward to seeing you there.”
