John Travers Cornwell VC

Yesterday I attended the annual Parade and Church service in honour of John Travers Cornwell VC in Manor Park, E12.  The ceremony also commenarated the 90th anniversary of the The Royal British Legion. 

John (or Jack) was a local lad who joined the Navy without the permission of his parents and died aged 16 of wounds suffered in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.  He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the battle.  The youngest person in the Navy to receive such a reward.

There was about 100 people taking part in the Parade.  Some of the very old and frail veterans were carried by a minibus at the front of the march. They were followed by the Royal British Legion Band, British Legion banners, Legion members and supporters. Then three teams from Newham Royal Navy and Air Force Cadets.  The senior officer was the Newham Deputy Lieutenant, Colonel Mike Dudding and the Council was represented by the Deputy Mayor, Cllr Andrew Baikie.

We marched to what I thought to be a very moving service at St Michael's and All Angels Church in Romford Road. During which we sang some beautiful hymns supported by an excellent Church Choir.  The Royal British Legion were (I think accurately) in the service compared to the biblical "Good Samaritans".  We were all aware of British troops currently fighting in Afghanistan and Libya. We then marched back to a reception at the British Legion headquarters in Church Street. 

I think I was most impressed by the Newham Navy and Air Force Cadets present.  Nearly all of them were even younger than Jack Cornwell when he had joined up. It is nowadays almost completely unimaginable to think that 16 year old were sent in such harms way on active service.

They had given up their Sunday to show respect not only to the good works of the Legion but also to a fellow Newham teenager from a very different but still relatively recent age who had paid the price of those in peril on the sea.

West Ham Church of All Saints Remembrance Sunday Service

This morning I attended the Remembrance Service in the 12th Century Church of All Saints in my ward, West Ham.

The Deputy Lieutenant of Newham, Colonel Mike Dudding, our Mayor Sir Robin Wales and West Ham MP Lyn Brown was present.  As well as veterans, parishioners, residents, 7 Rifles Territorial Army, Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, Councillors and Senior Council officers.

The Church is over a 1,000 years old and is the one of the oldest (or arguably the oldest) building in Newham and lies in in the heart of West Ham Ward.  It is extremely impressive and I would encourage everyone to visit it.  

The service was taken by the vicar, The Revd Stennett Kirby.  He made a particular point of arguing that since in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim tradition, widows and orphans should be honoured, so therefore the spouses and children of servicemen and women who have been killed in recent Wars should not suffer from the Cuts that the Coalition government is proposing  (No comment but check out this BBC link here).

Even though I am a lifelong atheist, as usual, I found the service and the ceremony profoundly moving. 

After the last post and the two minutes silence, Mr Alf Gittings, a member of the Royal Navel Association read out

" They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
  Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
  At the going down of the sun and in the morning
  We will remember them".

To which we all replied "We will remember them"

I did wonder during the service whether Beckton gas worker, Will Thorne, the founder of the GMB trade union and former West Ham Councillor, Mayor and MP, had ever attended a similar service in this very same Church?  I assume he did. During the First World War he had joined the West Ham Volunteer Force with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His eldest son also joined the army and was killed in action at Ypres in 1917.

There were at least three other remembrance events in Newham today.  Check out my previous post about the 2007 West Ham All Saints service here and Thursday's East Ham Cenotaph ceremony here.