Remembrance Service

A Remembrance Service was held at St Giles’s Church on 30th November 2016. This account of the service was written by William Sullivan from Holy Rosary Catholic Primary School:

During our project, we went to St Giles`s church for a WW1 service in which we remembered all the people who had fought for their country and died for their country. While in the service, we listened to some of the poems that the soldiers made during the war. I felt very emotional listening to them because it made me understand how bad it must have been for the soldiers in the war and it also made me see how they missed their families. Also, it showed how war wasn’t what people expected it to be.

Another part of the remembrance service was the lighting of the candles. Most people before the service were given a candle and when we got called out we had to place our candle in front of one of the current soldiers for it to be lit. Then we had to carefully set our candles onto a holder where everyone could see them. I felt joyful and miserable at the same time because I remembered all of the soldiers that fought for our freedom but I know a flame is a sign of peace and hope. We also watched a re-enactment of one of the soldiers who thought war was a great thing but as soon as he got there he realised how bad war really was, how much he missed home and the worrying thought of death. I thought it was very good because it showed how war thrilled men but actually it was horrible.

After that we sung all our different songs. Each school had their own song to sing and learn. Every single school sang their songs amazingly well and also some schools had their own dance! It made me feel happy and warm inside to hear everyone`s voice singing joyfully and merrily. After that, there was a very sad moment. We listened to the names of the soldiers from Aintree and Melling who risked their lives for us. The service made me think about kindness and patience because nothing is worse than what the soldiers suffered at that time.