Remembering those of the Great War in Southern Cemetery today at 10.30

This year the ceremonies remembering all those who participated in the wars Britain fought has a special significance as we reflect that 2014 is the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.

And so today at 10.30 in Southern Cemetery there will be the annual commemorative service organised by the Friends of Southern Cemetery Group.

David Harrop who has a permanent exhibition to those of both world wars in the Remembrance Hall writes, “Rev David Gray will be officiating plus 100 school children, with tributes to the British Legion.

David Harrop will be reading in Flanders Fields plus his unique commemorative display will be on view!”

And that display is well worth a visit, offering a wide range of memorabilia, from photographs, letters and postcards, to official correspondence, medals and much more.

What I like about the exhibition is the very personal items which draw you in and give you a sense of what it was like to live through those four years.

But it is not a melancholy collection for here is humour as well as saddness, and it is a powerful insight to how those who fought as well as those who stayed at home.

I am always drawn to the little things like the porcelain tank bought as a souvenir and the comic sometimes saucy postcards sent back from the Front.

Pictures; from the collection of David Harrop