Great War Commemoration - North Stoke

Church of St Mary the Virgin, North Stoke, West Sussex

Sound and Silence - a commemoration of the war dead, of North Stoke

SOUND AND SILENCE

On Sunday 11 November, churches across the country will be holding Remembrance Services with the laying of wreaths on war memorials and the naming of the fallen.  All families have unspoken, faded memories of the First World War, from which this date derives, and this year is the One Hundredth Anniversary of the end of that terrible war. “In Napoleonic times not much was known about the conditions of war on the battlefield, but with the advent of film, the reality of war and the death of millions of men in the Great War remains a heavy cloud over the collective memory of the British and the inhabitants of many other countries.” (Michael Aidin:  Memories of Memorials )

At North Stoke, which gave three dead to the Great War, there will be no religious service but a deep reflection on the meaning of remembrance and above all of reconciliation.  A short anthology of writings will be performed by the group Actors Emeritus, composed of professional actors who have now retired but have links with the Church of St Mary the Virgin.  It will take place on Sunday 11th November in the Church at 3pm and will end with the going down of the sun.