Page 24 - LBV 2017

COMPANY TRAINING
The Commanding Officer and 2IC with OCdts following the service
Remembrance Sunday 2016
As a student, my days merge into one giant blended mix of lectures, coursework, eating and sleeping. However, there is always one day of every year I remember, Remembrance Sunday. My
Remembrance Sunday’s with the
CUOTC are poles apart from the
parades I did as a cadet through
a town centre. As a cadet, they
were services carried out on the
Sunday of one of our training
weekends in the field. However,
this year I got the opportunity to go to church.
The day started off with a later than usual wake up and the chance to grab a cup of tea
on our way to the church, Great St. Marys, The University Church of Cambridge. Waiting outside for the service to begin, the other university affiliated military units arrived, with the Cambridge University Air Squadron taking up their positon
as honour guard for the service. Whilst we were all stood smartly in a line waiting for everyone
to arrive, we were approached by a gentleman
in a black robe who in his own eccentric style reminded us that we were to be carrying out the role of honour guard next year and gave us the helpful comment that we should pay attention to the CUAS during the service. Shortly afterwards, we were asked to enter the church.
Having taken our seats, the service of carefully selected readings, speakers and hymns began, all with the purpose of getting us to think about the
poignant message Remembrance Sunday carries.
The service started with
the Act of Remembrance and
the two-minute silence, giving everyone the chance to reflect on something unique and personal
to them. It then continued with hymns, Kilmarnock and St. Cecilia
being two of them; a reading from the book of Romans by Lady Mair, the Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and a sermon from the retired Reverend Dr. Geoffrey Rowell. The service ended with everyone stood up proudly singing the National Anthem before leaving the church.
As we left the church we were all in agreement that it was a really good service and it was time for us to find a spot for the obligatory group photo.
Overall, this Remembrance Service remains one of the best church services I have been to and the most memorable Remembrance Sunday I have experienced.
OCdt Cleaver,
University of East Anglia,
Advanced Wing (Mafeking)
22 THE LIGHT BLUE VOLUNTEER
The service started with the Act of Remembrance and the two-minute silence...