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The title of a day lodged in the memories of older
Old Boys, a chance to escape the rigours
of Arborfield for a few hours. A
time many would spend with family and friends, chatting over the events
since the last free day. Now,
though, it’s a chance to think back on the events of the Reunion weekend,
although in my case the events were few, just the Parade and the Drum Head
Service. The weekend, as a whole, is
a big undertaking for the members of the A.O.B.A. Committee who organize it
for us and they are deserving of a big vote of thanks. A year away it maybe, but the next
Reunion is just over the horizon and no doubt they will be involved
straight away in planning it.
I watched the parade which took place in a constant
downpour. The Arborfield spirit and
humour took over, brollies were raised, and everybody stepped off with a
determination that it would go ahead, no matter what the weather threw at
them.
Afterwards, it was a long wet trudge to the location
of the Army Apprentice National Memorial and there was no let up during the
Drum Head Service, but it was going to go ahead.
During the service it was possible to see the
emotional effect on bereaved families, knowing that, as the Roll of Honour was read out, their lost one was being
remembered and respected by his fellow Old Boys. Not just those of his years at
Arborfield, but by all of us who have trod the same paths.
It gave rise to some personal thoughts about the
Memorial itself. The names displayed
around the circumference are a mixture of contributors to the fund to raise
it, along with some names of those departed for whom it is a personal
family tribute. With all the space
for memorial tablets allocated, there is the question of how would families
of those yet to be recalled to H.Q. be able to mark remembrance of
them? Throughout the main National
Memorial site a
favoured tribute is a circular plaque, mounted on a ground spike, with
details of the regiment, name and dates of the one being remembered. It came to mind when I noticed several
such plaques were planted within the curtilage of the Apprentice
Memorial. The point was that on the
face of it, these plaques had no visible link to the Apprentice
scheme. It may be that the AANM
committee would give some thought to the design of a plaque which would
reflect the location in which it would be placed, and with which families
could have a lasting tribute to their departed Old Boy, or indeed, a member
of the permanent staff at the schools.
Just a thought.
Time to go and the traditional farewell can be
heard by clicking on the link below.
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