RESIDENTS UNITED TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS TO THE FALLEN

Hundreds of residents lined the seafront at the war memorial on Bexhill seafront and at Little Common to pay their respects on Remembrance Sunday. It was a suitably sombre occasion with residents both young and old congregating on a sunny day to listen to an array of speakers and observe the two-minute silence as the clock struck 11am. Just prior to that, the Last Post was sounded before the crowd fell silent. You could have heard a pin drop. In the build-up, touching poems were read out and the National Anthem was sung with considerable gusto, paying tribute to our new King. Among the crowd, several had chosen to wrap themselves in Ukrainian flags to pay tribute to the soldiers in that besieged country who had lost their lives while battling against invading Russian forces.

Having congregated initially in the town centre, many marched to the war memorial, wearing their poppies with pride to pay fulsome tribute to the fallen while those who had served in the Armed Forces wore the medals they had won having fought with valour in the heat of battle.

The service culminated with the laying of wreaths at the memorial as Bexhill once again marked the occasion beautifully.

Afterwards, many took the time to admire the beautiful ‘poppy car’ which had been erected in the Memorial Garden on the seafront for the third consecutive year.

It came about from an idea Councillor Lynn Langlands had when she was Mayor during COVID. There was no opportunity for charities to raise money to support their causes, and she thought Rother District Council could not let Remembrance Day go by without a tribute of poppies.

The council worked with Lynn, as well as garden contractors Idverde, to bring the garden car sculpture to the memorial garden for people to donate and put poppies on the car. Many members of the community knit or sew poppies to put on it.

More than £3,500 was raised in the first year and is an amazing tribute to all our servicemen living with injury or fallen in battle.

Each year Lynn is asked if she will do the Poppy Car again and of course, the answer is a resounding yes as it continues to raise more than £3,000 each year for the Royal British Legion.

It arrives in the garden a week before Remembrance Sunday and is manned every day by local Rother District Council and town councillors, members of the Royal British Legion and the Bexhill community.