CAPTION: Bishop Mike addresses the crowd during the Remembrance commemoration
Bishop of Exeter Leads Plymouth Hoe Remembrance Service
The new Bishop of Exeter, The Rt Revd Dr Mike Harrison, has led his first Remembrance Sunday service on Plymouth Hoe.
Thousands of people turned-out in bright sunshine to attend the service, which commemorates all those who lost their lives in WW1 and WW2 and more recent conflicts.
The event included representatives of all the armed forces, as well as local veterans, school children, cubs, scouts and guides.
The event included representatives from the military
This year marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day, and representatives of the visiting German ship FGS Braunschweig were among those to lay a wreath.
Bishop Mike, who was enthroned last week at Exeter Cathedral, has two children who are currently serving in the armed forces and said that Remembrance is a significant day for him personally.
Addressing the gathered crowd and troops on the parade ground, he said “The early Christian monks used to say the root of sin was in forgetting.
“We meet today to remember. We remember those who died in battle in World Wars One and Two, from the Royal Navy, the Army, the Royal Air Force.
Members of the 31st Plymouth cubs, based in Ernesettle, also attended the service
“Those who have fallen in conflicts since then, and those conflicts which we know continue, even now.
“We remember to honour their sacrifice, their courage, their generosity, their spirit, their largeness of heart.
“We remember in order not to glamorise. We remember the horror, the suffering, the wretchedness of armed hostilities.”
Bishop Mike also remembered those who are on deployment now.
Prayers were then led by representatives from the city’s different denominations, including the Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt. Rev’d James Grier.
The Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Cllr Tina Tuohy, who was born in Berlin in 1934 to an English father and German mother.
She and her mother were on the last train to leave Berlin for England.
During the service she recalled her wartime experience of living in Devon.
She said “I have never forgotten my school being bombed in Salcombe. I still have the scars caused by shrapnel and flying glass.”
Plymouth’s Lord Mayor said she still bears shrapnel scars from wartime raids on Devon
Cllr Tuohy laid a wreath on behalf of the people of Plymouth, while the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Devon, Rear Admiral Christopher Snow, laid one on behalf of the King.
The Remembrance service was livestreamed on behalf of Plymouth City Council. The Rev’d Karl Freeman, a retired vicar and military veteran was one of those providing live commentary for people watching at home.
Following the main service on Plymouth Hoe, Bishops Mike and James then processed to Plymouth’s Civilian Memorial in Lockyear Street to say prayers there.
An estimated 1174 civilians were killed in bombing raids on Plymouth between 1940 and 1944.
In the afternoon, Bishop Mike travelled to Exeter to lead the Devon County Remembrance Service at Exeter Cathedral.
