Stanhoe War Memorial 2016

 L to R  -  Eric Jackson, the Rev’d Peter Cook, Steve Greef

The Royal British Legion is recognised as the national custodian of Remembrance.

Remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday in November, is the day traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today.

On Remembrance Sunday, wreaths are laid in remembrance in the villages of:

Brancaster, Docking (two), Fring, Great Bircham, Burnham Deepdale, North Creake, South Creake, Sedgeford (two), Stanhoe, Thornham and Titchwell

and in addition at Great Bircham war graves memorial in the churchyard (as well as at the village war memorial, more commonly referred to as the 'Cross of Fire'), The National Construction College at former RAF Bircham Newton, and the Royal West Norfolk Golf Club at Brancaster. 

There are 88 war graves in Great Bircham cemetery, representing several nationalities, including German and British service personnel.  Each year, a small wooden remembrance cross has been placed on each grave by a branch member, and a wreath laid at the war memorial within the cemetery.

In 2014, the school in Great Bircham having been closed, Bircham children now attending Docking primary school were invited to place the crosses on the war graves, as it was the centenary year of the outbreak of the Great War.

GP50 Norfolk Contingent visit to Ypres and the Menin Gate Memorial - 2018

REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY PARADES

The Remembrance Day service at Sedgeford church is traditionally attended by the branch standard bearer, who parades the branch standard at the church.

CENTENARY OF START OF WW1 - SERVICE AT ST MARY'S, SEDGEFORD 4 AUG 2014

In 2014 a combined service was organised at Sedgeford, to which local parishioners in the combined benefice were invited, along with members of the Sedgeford branch of the Legion.  Every member of the congregation was handed a Remembrance cross on arrival, bearing the name of one of the fallen, which they placed in troughs supplied in the church, one for each village.  Representatives of the four villages read the names of those who lost their lives in their village, and others, including Legion branch members, read pieces prepared by the Rector, the Reverend Peter Cook.  These ranged from a speech by David Lloyd George of the day in 1914, to the numbers of people killed during the Great War, by country, and a letter written from the front.  A choir of ladies from the four villages sang "For the Fallen" and "Keep the home fires burning".

It was a most evocative and emotional service. Click here for a Report and Photos of this service.