2026 Earl Mountbatten Memorial Service

This is the annual memorial service for Earl Mountbatten organised by the Romsey Mountbatten Branch of the Royal British Legion.

The event's significance is such that Standard Bearers from all across the county converge on Romsey Abbey to take part in the service.  I had the honour and privilege to attend and parade on behalf of the Sutton Scotney & District Branch.

From a standard bearer's perspective, it had been a wet day and the Parade Marshall wished us to conduct a dip at the newly unveiled statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II, outside on the Abbey green.  This introduced the prospect of having to conduct a dip for wet or muddy conditions, which is a physical challenge.  However, thankfully, although it had rained in the morning, it didn't again, and the grass was deemed dry enough. 

As usual there was some complexity to the choreography of the service.  Fortunately we had 2 parade marshals to keep us on track, and I was positioned so that I simply had to follow the man in front.  However, we all had to do a straight dip down the isle, rather than out at 45 degrees which is normal.  Training is one thing, but the reality of services and parades is always different.

Some photos were taken of the dip at the statue outside:

Benn Hitchen

Sutton Scotney & District Branch Standard Bearer