Remembrance Sunday marked with olive branches

Middlesbrough Friends marked Remembrance Sunday with olive branches

Friends from Middlesbrough Meeting laid olive branches at their local war memorial on Sunday 9 November.

They had originally asked their local council and the Royal British Legion for permission to lay a wreath of white poppies on Remembrance Sunday.

The Middlesbrough Friends particularly wanted to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the first world war to highlight that it was the first large-scale conflict where conscientious objection was an issue.

The white poppy request was made, Middlesbrough Friends said, ‘to honour those who suffered for their convictions, and those who served in noncombatant roles, as well as to honour civilians who have suffered in all wars of the last century, and to publicise our commitment to peace work’.

When the council and the Royal British Legion turned down the request, the latter feeling that the gesture would be seen as offensive by members of their organisation, Friends suggested laying olive branches instead. This was agreed, as was a further request to include a single red poppy and a single white poppy, together with a rainbow symbol on which the word ‘Peace’ will be printed.

The tribute was laid by Dorothy Willis, clerk of Middlesbrough Meeting, accompanied by Michael Wright, clerk of trustees of Teesdale and Cleveland Area Meeting. 

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