The Remembrance Sunday Service in Alexandra at the weekend embraced the community’s youth with Clyde School pupil Dylan Smith (12) given the honour of firing the 25-pounder field gun at 11am to begin the service.
While Armistice Day on November 11 is specifically associated with those who died in World War 1, Remembrance Day has its origins in the period following World War 2 and honours all British and Commonwealth service members of all wars.
The Alexandra-Clyde RSA conducted the service at the Alexandra War Memorial.
Alexandra-Clyde RSA president Paul Galloway was master of ceremonies, welcoming Pastor Craig Ashby of Alexandra Baptist Church to perform the blessing.
Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan gave the address, speaking of the war poets he read in his teens — ‘‘men who cried out not for unrequited love but for unfulfilled lives cut short by World War 1’’.
RSA member Kevin Harding said the 25-pounder field gun had been in the club long before he started his military career in 1974, but was used at military and ceremonial events only since about 2012.
The boom of its firing will not be forgotten soon by young Dylan who had been ‘‘very excited and very nervous’’ beforehand. He had asked if he could help out on the day for his Spirit of Clyde award and had not expected such an important job.
