AS the clock chimed 11am, marking 96 years since the end of the First World War, silence united people across Oxfordshire.
And at Christ Church Cathedral off St Aldate’s in Oxford, a very special service paid tribute to fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice.
More than 200 people gathered to reflect on the fallen from the two world wars and other conflicts on Armistice Day.
Names of the fallen from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were read out in a Turning the Pages ceremony before a two-minute silence.
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It was only the second time that the Books of Remembrance for the ceremony have been brought out from the military chapel into the main cathedral.
At the service, middle, Albert Parker and son Richard.
Among those attending were Albert Parker, 74, from Bicester, whose four uncles, Maurice, Francis, Joseph and Arthur, were killed in action during the First World War.
Mr Parker, who went to the service with his son Richard, 47, said: “It was a very emotional day for me to hear the names being read out at the Turning the Pages ceremony.”
Terry Roper, chairman of the Oxford branch of the Royal Green Jackets Association, who read out the names of fallen soldiers from the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, also paid tribute to soldiers from the regiment’s 2nd Battalion, who fought in the attack near Ypres on November 11, 1914, in woodland at Nonne Bosschen.
He said afterwards: “It was a rare feat of arms and a very important attack – it helped to stop the German advance.”
Also attending was D-Day veteran Arthur Vincent, 90, from Marston, Oxford, who was at the service with wife Mary, 72.
Band Sgt Major Ady Higgs, left, and Bugle Major Phil KIng of the Corunna Band & Bugles, Oxfordshire Army Cadet Force.
Father-of-one and grandfather Mr Vincent, who landed on Gold Beach in 1944 as a trooper with the 4th/7th Royal/Dragoon Guards, said: “I haven’t been able to go over to Normandy for the past couple of years after a heart operation so I particularly wanted to come to this service.
“I landed two days after D-Day and had some close shaves.
“I was lucky but lots of others were killed and wounded and the casualties in the First World War were horrific – it’s only right to remember the fallen in this way.”
Sub Dean of Christ Church Canon Edmund Newey said 460 students and staff from Christ Church who died in the two world wars were remembered.
He added: “So many communities across the country and across Europe were affected for generations by what happened in World War One.”
John Briggs, Registrar for Christ Church Cathedral, added: “The cathedral is a hidden gem and represents the diocesan community in a very strong way, particularly when it comes to services such as these.”
Colonel Chris Laurence, chairman of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and director of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, described the service as “special”.
He added: “The Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts have brought war more to the forefront of people’s minds but people can forget how many people died in the First World War and the suffering in the trenches.”
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