Sunday, November 8, 2009

UK soldiers remember the fallen


Troops on parade at Camp Bastion, Helmand

A Remembrance Sunday service has been held at Camp Bastion in the Afghan province of Helmand on the day another British soldier has been killed.

Later the Queen is to lead the Remembrance Sunday commemorations at the Cenotaph in London's Whitehall.

Representatives from the Commonwealth will join Prime Minister Gordon Brown, military leaders and religious heads for a service and military march-past.

The latest soldier to die was killed in a blast in Helmand, the MoD said.

He was the 94th British fatality in Afghanistan this year.

A two-minute silence will be held at 1100 GMT across the country to remember the UK's war dead.

A 105mm Light Gun of from 1 Royal Horse Artillery signals the 2 minute silence at Camp Bastion

Earlier 2,000 British servicemen and women gathered on a dusty, windblown patch of open ground at the camp in Afghanistan to join in prayer, lay wreaths and remember fellow soldiers killed serving their country.

One padre spoke of the dangers of glamorising war and another urged leaders of nations to shape a better world through "wisdom, humility and a common love for peace".

Speaking from the service, Major Paul Smyth, of The Rifles, said: "This year is probably the most poignant of many as sadly the last three remaining veterans from the Great War passed away.

"But whilst that generational link may be broken, it's parades like this which mean we can make sure they are not forgotten."

The conflict in Afghanistan is likely to be the focus of events later in the day, along with tributes to the dead of two world wars.

Meanwhile, the senior chaplain in Helmand province said British soldiers in Afghanistan should be prepared to die in a "fight against the evil of fundamentalism".

Speaking ahead of Remembrance Sunday, Padre Mark Christian said killing "to defeat evil" was "morally permissible".

'Fallen world'

Mr Christian, senior padre of Task Force Helmand, 11 Light Brigade, will lead the Remembrance Sunday service in Lashkar Gah when hundreds of soldiers will gather to remember the fallen.

He said: "In a perfect world, the world that God intended for us, we would all live at peace with each other.

"But we don't live in that world, we live in a fallen world where evil exists and it is the obligation of all good people to confront evil and to defeat it where they can."

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