On Sunday November 8th, owing to the coronavirus pandemic, Remembrance Sunday commemorations this year will take a very different form from previous years, with many ceremonies across Yorkshire already cancelled or severely modified.
Remembrance events will be required to observe social distancing rules, including limits on the number of attendees, and they will only be permitted to take place online or outdoors with limited numbers. But it’s good to know that many such events will be taking place in towns and villages throughout Yorkshire, and that many members of the Society will be taking part.
The Yorkshire Society fully supports the request of the Royal British Legion:
“Despite the changes this year, we are encouraging people across the nations to ensure Remembrance Sunday is still marked appropriately by taking part in remote and socially distanced Remembrance activity, whether that be watching the service on television or pausing for the Two Minute Silence in their home or on their doorsteps”.
At this sombre time, it is also worth reflecting that whilst members of The Yorkshire Society will be wearing a red poppy rather than the White Rose of Yorkshire, there is a link between the two. It was at the Battle of Minden in Germany, 1759, when soldiers of the Yorkshire Regiment, after triumph on the battlefield, picked white roses from the hedgerows to commemorate their fallen comrades. This is a strange but moving link to the red poppies we wear with equal pride today.
Please remember to wear your poppy with pride. Lest we forget.
