Remembrance Sunday 8 November 2026
Address preached at the Act of Remembrance in St Ives, at the War Memorial at 11am before a thousand or more people from the town, including lots of uniformed youth groups, a detachment from 42 Engineer Regiment, and various civic dignitaries.
We’re here this morning for a solemn purpose:
to honour those who lost their lives
in the world wars of the twentieth century
and in later conflicts.
And it’s good to see so many of you here,
especially our young people so well turned out and on parade.
Now when I was the age of some of the youngest of you
(quite a long time ago now!)
I can recall
the rows of scouts and guides,
cubs and brownies,
cadets and others
all on parade,
just like you are –
and alongside them rows and rows of old men.
Lots of old men.
And these old men were the survivors …
the survivors of the First World War.
They had come back from the trenches,
or other battlefields.
And the names carved on the war memorial …
were people they had known –
their comrades they’d lived and fought alongside,
their friends, their mates,
their school friends and neighbours,
even perhaps their brothers.
They really did remember them.
And a few years later I was an army cadet.
There were still old men on parade,
but now these were men
who had fought … in the Second World War.
Perhaps on the beaches of Normandy,
or in North Africa or the Far East.
And some of their friends too
had not come home:
more names on the war memorial.
All these men,
sons, brothers, fathers, friends,
and some women alongside them,
they had died – and for what?
And those who came back, injured and traumatised:
they suffered – for what?
Well, they died, they suffered, because of the decisions,
good and bad,
made by politicians and generals, tyrants even,
in other countries and ours.
But they also died for a cause.
You see, they died
defending the values that we hold dear:
tolerance, compassion, fairness,
respect for others,
caring for those in need,
defending those who are oppressed
or suffering aggression,
upholding freedom and the rule of law.
But the years pass,
and the task of defending these values
passed from those old men to us.
Because – these values always need defending.
They are always under threat,
and even today
it is brave men and women
who ensure that we, here,
can continue to live these values,
values that make life worth living.
To them, like their predecessors,
we say: “thank you”.
And now I’m pretty much
one of the old men on parade
and soon the responsibility will pass
to you young people.
And it is our job,
it is your job,
to honour the memory
of those who lost their lives in conflict,
to remember them
and what they did,
how and why they died.
And above all to uphold these values,
defending them, yes,
and also living them:
compassion on those in need,
the rule of law,
justice and democracy.
Tolerance of people with different views.
Defending ourselves and others against aggression.
So remember this:
live those values each day,
and do what you can
to ensure our political leaders do too.
And then we will truly be remembering
and honouring
the brave men and women
whose names we have just read out
and those who died alongside them.
We will remember them.