Thame marks WW1 century with poppies, pride and pathos

THAME came together on Sunday, November 11, to commemorate 100 years since the Armistice ended World War One, and to mark the culmination of the four-year long, Thame Remembers project.

In glorious autumn sunshine, the generally sombre mood concentated the thoughts of the hundreds of all ages, gathered infront off the War Memorial, to jointly focus on the sacrifice of the millions who lost their lives in the so-called ‘Great War’ so that those who remained behind could be free from tyranny.

As a giant screen rolled through the names of the 212 Thame, WW1 casualties, prayers, poems and exhortations were read by the Mayor of Thame, Ann Midwinter, the Rev Alan Garratt and others, and a lone trumpeter played the Last Post before a two-minutes silence, followed by the traditional Reveille. Then, the town’s organisations, civic leaders, armed services, police, fire and rescue and other civilian services, filed before the war memorial to lay wreaths of poppies on its steps.

With perfect timing, two RAF helicoptors flew low over the tree tops above the scene, a reminder that our uniformed services are still there, ready to protect us if conflict should ever again disturb the peace the last two generations have been fortunate enough to enjoy.

Later in the evening, one of hundreds of Beacons around the county was lit, to signify Battle’s Over, A Nation’s Tribute. This was followed by the solo voice of Anne Reid_Hansen singing movingly, the Requiem mass motet, Pie Jesu. But as the whole nation had done when the Armistice finally came after four long, years, in 1918, the mood lightened and the band Tay O’Lay performed songs from every decade starting with that of WW1, as the crowd that had gathered in the night air, sang along and danced in the street.

As a fitting end to a day of tears, memories, and a taste of the hard-hitting impact of wars on a community – as portrayed particularly on-point in the theatre production the night before, Ten Tommies from Thame – the Thame Remembers project reached its final episode, with a coming together of many of those who had played their part, for a ‘thank you’ dinner and entertainment at the Spread Eagle Hotel. Hosts, David Bretherton and Mike Dyer related the achievements of the project and some of its most memorable episodes and challenging deliveries.

Some of those present shared personal stories of their journeys and adventures, travelling to war graves all over the world to delivery special, Thame Remembers crosses to the resting places of Thame’s war dead. Members of Thame Players sang excerpts from their recent production of ‘Oh what a Lovely War’ and Peter Lambert and Kath Bacon reprised their emotional scene in Ten Tommies from Thame, when Ernest Harbour (Peter) discovers that his missus, Molly (Kath) has heard that he plans to go to Cowley Barracks with nine fellow Thamensians, to sign up for the army. Later, the couple repeated their final scene together, where Ernest sings ‘I’m coming home Molly’, and there was hardly a dry eye in the house!

However, the jollities soon returned and like any good party, ended with a very special cake!

And finally….

Every year since November 11, 2018, the Armistice is commemorated and every year, we’ve come to know the traditional exhortation ‘They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old…etc’ and ‘When you go home tell them of us and say; For your tomorrow we gave our today’. But this year, Thame resident Nick Rogers, summed up Thame’s poignant coming together in the morning of this extra special Remembrance Day, beautifully when he was moved to post the following poem on social media:

The centre of Thame was heaving
More than I’ve ever seen before
Adults, Women, Children
Here to commemorate the War

Our Lord even made the sun come out
And kept the rain away
Nothing left to spoil
This very special day

I came to remember those brave men
Who often lived life in a trench
It was their home, while they were fighting
In Dirt, Disease and stench

Associations laid there wreaths
They handled with great care
Each one stopping for a second
To say a little prayer

We had to wait awhile
For the fly pass overhead
But it gave me extra minutes
To Think about the dead

All in all a wonderful day
Thame Had surely done it’s best
For all our forgotten servicemen
Who are now all laid to rest