Turning Of The Pages Christchurch Cathedral Oxford March 2018

Turning of the Pages Christchurch Cathedral Oxford

March 2018

OXFORD commemorated fallen soldiers who have died in conflicts around the world at a special Turning the Pages ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral yesterday.

The ceremonies, in which the names of the servicemen are read aloud, pay tribute to soldiers from the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and The Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars who died in the two world wars.

However, Saturday’s poignant occasion marked the first time names were also read out of servicemen from the Royal Green Jackets and the Rifles who had died in more recent conflicts such as Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

A new book was created to include the regiments and was formally handed over to the cathedral for safe keeping, and the names will be read out at future Turning the Pages ceremonies.

Brigadier Robin Draper who oversaw the creation of the new book said: “It’s important that we remember not just those who gave their lives in the 2 wars but also those who have died in the secondary regiments of the Ox and Bucks - The Royal Green Jackets and The Rifles, in places such as Borneo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The Green Jackets were formed in the 60s when the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, which had existed since 1881, was merged with a number of other regiments. Then in 2007 the Green Jackets were themselves amalgamated with a number of other regiments to form The Rifles.

General Sir Robert Pascoe KCB MBE, who served with the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry in the 1950s, said: “It’s very special - there is now that continuity from the Ox and Bucks right the way through. “Every year we say we will remember them and this is one way of doing it.”

The special service saw family, former and current servicemen and members of the public pay their respects to the fallen soldiers in what many said was one of the best turn outs they had seen.

The tradition of Turning the Pages was first started by Colonel Richard Hill, a former officer with the Royal Green Jackets, before it was passed to Colonel Mike Vince MBE. It has since become a regular occasion and sees representatives from serving members of the Armed Forces and the Royal British Legion attend.

Article and photographs courtesy of the Oxford Mail