Thame draws together in remembrance

HUNDREDS of people of all ages gathered in glorious autumn sunshine at the War Memorial in Thame yesteday (Sunday 10/11), to remember those who lost their lives in war.

After a welcome by the Mayor of Thame, Peter Lambert, and prayers and eulogy from local clergy, representatives from the armed services, the police, the fire service, the various local councils, youth groups, Community Groups and Forces cadets, processed with great dignity and reverence to the steps of the War Memorial one at a time. Here they laid wreaths of the red poppies that have come to symbolise the blood shed and the memory of all the dead of all wars since the First World War.

Old soldiers and those returned from recent conflicts, including Afghanistan, bowed their heads thoughfully, as their medals and badges, so carefully cleaned for the occassion, glistened in the sunshine as brightly no doubt, as their memories of fallen friends and relatives.

Conspicuous by his absence this year, was Arthur Staggs, the war time spy, who lived out his post war years in Thame until his death this year at the age of 100 years. Arthurs poem, For You Alone, probably sums up the spirit of the occasion for most of the people who collected together yesterday for this shared contemplation of loss:

For You Alone

However busy I may be
Whenever we’re apart
There’s still a shine of memory
Deep down within my heart
Where I preserve your image dear
Forever to remain
And thoughts of you bring constant cheer
Until we meet again

Arthur Staggs