A PIPER’S mournful lament was the only sound to be heard as the clock struck 11am in Gostrey Meadow on Remembrance Sunday, leaving the hundreds gathered at the Farnham war memorial to reflect on the sacrifice of generations past.

A large crowd, from young children on shoulders to wheelchair-bound veterans, each proudly adorning the red flash of a poppy, again gathered at the Farnham War Memorial on a gloomy, windswept autumn day to pay tribute to the nation’s, and Farnham’s, war dead.

The commemorations began with a parade of civic representatives led by Pc Chris Skillicorn-Aston and his young son Blake, representing the youth of Farnham, followed by the marching Alder Valley Brass Band, the Royal British Legion and the uniformed ranks of A Company, 3rd Battalion Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, Sea, Air and Army cadets, St John Badgers, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts.

Once amassed in Gostrey Meadow, the Rector of Farnham, Reverend David Uffindell welcomed the “extraordinary” congregation, and particularly the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Bill Biddell, the Mayor of Farnham, Mike Hodge, and Police and Surrey Crime Commissioner David Munro.

The mayor then read Rupert Brooke’s First World War sonnet ‘The Soldier’, followed by an explanation of remembrance by chairman of the Royal British Legion Farnham branch Roger Brown, and Rev Uffindell’s prayer “that all people may, together, live in freedom, justice and peace”.

The traditional reading of Laurence Binyon’s 1914 ‘Ode of Remembrance’ prompted all present to affirm the final line “we will remember them”, after which a trumpeter’s rendition of The Last Post signalled the beginning of the two-minute silence at 11am.

This was followed by Reveille, the traditional bugle call that awakens Commonwealth soldiers at dawn, and vice president of the Royal British Legion Farnham branch Percy Bartlett’s reading of the ‘Kohima Epitaph’ - “When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today.”

Wreathes and crosses were then laid on the memorial by the Vice Lord-Lieutenant, Royal British Legion, the mayor, serving members of the Armed Services and Police and Crime Commissioner, as well as numerous other civic, youth, religious and community organisations and individuals.

Rev Uffindell brought the service to a close with a final prayer and following the service, the parade left for a march past of the council offices in South Street and on to St Andrew’s Church for a further service of remembrance.

Remembrance Sunday services were observed throughout the town, including in Badshot Lea, Hale, Weybourne and Rowledge.