Page 74 - RADC Bulletin 2022

RADC PEOPLE
to the National Memorial Arboretum (The NMA) in 2011 and is now seen by thousands every year. HRH The Duchess of Gloucester, Colonel in Chief of the RADC, rededicated the memorial at the NMA on 21 September 2011.
The Turning the Pages ceremony was originally held quarterly and consisted of a party of four personnel under the command of a senior non-commissioned officer. The youngest or sometimes the most junior person of the party stepped forward to the Book of Remembrance plinth and carried out the Turning of The Page ceremony
by turning a page and reading aloud the names of those listed on the new page. That page then remained open under the plinths glass cover until the next page was turned. As the uniformed workforce left Aldershot there were limited numbers left to carry out the ceremony. There have been a couple
of occasions where the pages have been turned in Aldershot and at a parallel service in Lichfield the same names have been read there too. In 2022 the Book of Remembrance was taken temporarily to Lichfield for the Corps Day church service and the Turning
of the Page ceremony was incorporated into the Service. More recently the Ceremony held in Aldershot has attracted many veteran members of the Corps along with available uniformed personnel including Chief Dental Officer (Army). Presently there are no formalised dates but those interested should ensure they are known to the RHQ for inclusion in notifications of the Ceremony.
There is a very short service normally
officiated by Padre Father John Harvey, who is a great friend of the Corps. The service has important component parts played by members of the congregation selected on arrival. The Book of Remembrance is now placed on a small lectern on top of the plinth and angled to be visible and audible to the congregation. The Padre initiates the point at which the “proud volunteer” turns the page and thereafter conducts the Remembrance part of the prayers. The second “volunteer”
then reads the prayer written by St Ignatius Loyola, also a former soldier, that contains the familiar words “... to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to labour and not to ask for any reward ...”. After a few more words from the Padre a final and third “volunteer” reads the RADC Corps Collect prior to the Padre concluding prayers and blessing the congregation.
We will Remember them.
72 RADC BULLETIN 2022