Lest We Forget

Remembering Comrades: The weekend of 6th June 2009 marked the 65th Anniversary of D-Day and the Normandy landings and we saw on our televisions Piper Bill Millin of Dawlish, immortalised in the archive films of that Day, being given back the original bagpipes he doggedly played as the troops poured on to the beaches whilst facing the onslaught of enemy guns.

On Sunday, 7th June I represented the Council at a moving ceremony called Decoration Day held in Wolborough Cemetery, Newton Abbot. The timing had to be exactly precise as an identical ceremony was taking place across the world by Comrades in Arms in a town called Medicine Hat, in Alberta Canada, organised by the Royal Canadian Legion. Tributes were paid to the fallen by the Mayor of Newton Abbot, Cllr. David Howe, Armed Services and representatives from local organisations planted simple wooden crosses at the foot of each white headstone lined in military precision within a peaceful memorial garden area.