The Archbishop of Canterbury has paid a poignant visit to the Ministry of Defence and the Cenotaph, coinciding with the 95th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby, who became the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury in February 2013, was greeted on the steps of the strategic headquarters in Whitehall by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Astor, and the Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Houghton. Accompanied by The Chaplain-in-Chief, The Venerable (Air Vice-Marshal) Ray Pentland, the Archbishop was updated on current military operations before taking the opportunity to meet with Chaplains of the Armed Forces, alongside military and civilian staff in the Memorial Courtyard.
Following this, the Archbishop joined Service personnel at the Cenotaph for the Act of Remembrance led by the Western Front Association. The moving ceremony began with the “Last Post” sounded by a bugler from The Scots Guards, the final note marking exactly 95 years since the guns fell silent in France and Flanders on 11 November 1918.
The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury said: “At this time of year it’s essential that we remember and give thanks for all those who gave their lives for the sake of freedom in the two World Wars, and also remember those who still risk their lives as Servicemen and women in our Armed Forces. It’s a time to recommit ourselves to the cause of peace and to seek to play our own small part as agents of reconciliation.”
General Sir Nick Houghton, Chief of the Defence Staff, said: “It was both a pleasure and a privilege to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury and highlight the hard work of Service personnel and defence civilian staff. Christianity stands alongside other faith groups as a foundation for many within the Armed Forces and we are delighted to further our strong relationship with the Church.”
Acts of Remembrance took place simultaneously across the United Kingdom, encompassing services such as the Act of Remembrance at the Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, and the collective paying of respects by members of the public for the Royal British Legion’s Silence in the Square at Trafalgar Square, London.
In Belgium, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh attended a ‘Sacred Soil’ ceremony alongside soldiers and horses of the Household Division, Belgian soldiers, and school children from both the United Kingdom and Belgium. The soil, gathered from some 70 First World War battlefields and Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries, will be brought back to the UK to form the centrepiece of a Flanders Field memorial garden at Wellington Barracks, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the commencement of the First World War.
