Alternative Remembrance Day events held in the UK
Friends took part in alternative Remembrance events around the country
An Alternative Remembrance Sunday ceremony, organised by the Peace Pledge Union, was held in Tavistock Square in London.
Speakers at the ceremony included Sam Walton, the Quaker activist who was recently found not guilty of criminal damage after attempting to disarm warplanes bound for Saudi use in Yemen. He criticised Theresa May for laying a wreath at the Cenotaph to remember the war dead while pursuing policies that are fuelling war, and pointed out that civilians in Yemen could be killed with British-made weapons at the same time as UK politicians talk of mourning victims of war. He also brought a message from people affected by war in Yemen, thanking those present for remembering them and campaigning against arms sales.
Those present observed two minutes’ silence and laid a wreath of white poppies to remember all victims of war, both civilians and members of armed forces, of all nationalities. Other individuals and families then laid their own wreaths and flowers.
The wreaths were laid on the conscientious objectors’ memorial stone, although the PPU emphasised that the ceremony was to remember all people harmed or killed in war, whether conscientious objectors, other civilians or members of armed forces.
Symon Hill, coordinator of the Peace Pledge Union, said: ‘Ministers talk of remembering the horrors of war while presiding over one of the largest military budgets in the world, ploughing billions into the renewal of nuclear weapons and recruiting vulnerable sixteen-year-olds into the UK armed forces.
‘Remembering those who have died and suffered in war should lead us to learn from the past, to challenge militarism and to take action for peace.’
Other alternative Remembrance Day events took place around the UK. Friends in Exeter received permission to lay a wreath of white poppies during the main commemoration ceremony.
‘Instead of a vigil at noon, where people who had been to the main Remembrance [Day] service just walked past us, we approached the British Legion to ask if we could take part and lay a wreath of white poppies,’ said Exeter Meeting clerk Gerald Conyngham. ‘Our links and discussions with Veterans for Peace (South West) may have helped and they were keen to support us, although in the end none were able to join us.’
Seventeen Exeter Quakers attended the ceremony. ‘The attentiveness of those present, especially the large numbers of young people, was very impressive,’ Gerald Conyngham added. ‘It felt good to be part of this important civic event and to add our dimension as Quakers, focusing on the need to promote peace making in our turbulent world.’
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