AS the clock struck 11am on Saturday a chapel in the heart of Oxford fell silent to remember fallen soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in both world wars.
Names of the fallen from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were read out in a Turning the Pages ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral before a two-minute silence.
Among the bowed heads of ex-servicemen stood Alan Rouse with his wife Caroline and 12-year-old daughter Victoria.
His two great-grand-uncles from Osney, Oxford, were both in the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, fought in the First World War. One of them Corporal Harry Harbud who served in the 2/4th Battalion, was killed in action at the age of 23 during a raid at Fayet near Saint-Quentin, France on April 28, 1917. It was the same battle in which Sergeant-Major Edward Brooks, who was born in Oakley and lived in Headington, earned his Victoria Cross after single-handedly killing two German gunners and captured their machine gun.
Corporal Harry Harbud was killed on April 28 1917.
Mr Rouse, who lives in Kidlington, said: “They probably would have known each other. Harry's body was never found.
"I did not expect to get as emotional as I did.
“The whole point of coming to the ceremony was to be connected more to my family.
“I only found out that my roots came from Osney when I started to research my family ancestry.”
In a tragic twist of fate Harry's brother, Frank, was killed at the age of 24 on his way home from serving in Gallipoli and Egypt.
Mr Rouse added: “What is so awful is that the family had planned a welcome home party for Frank.
“The reasons for fighting in the First World War in particular can be disputed, but Frank and Harry fought in good faith to protect their families and ultimately generations to come.”
Page turner Roy Bailey, who also served with the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, said it was important these ceremonies continue so soldier’s sacrifices would be remembered.
The soldiers to be remembered in today's service:
Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars
First World War 1914 - 1918:
Albert Henry Grace Boyles
Owen Walter Buckingham
George Lewis Buckle
Reginald Buggins
Antliff Edward Burton
Second World War 1939 - 1945:
Sydney William Taylor
Phillip George Upton
Albert Edward Wignall
Henry Arthur Wisker
Peter Vernon Hornsby
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
First World War 1914 - 1918:
Sydney Ashman
Arthur French
Harry Harbud
Thomas Myers
Ernest Wallace
Second World War 1939 - 1945:
Trevor Cousins
Peter Hart
Leslie Pearson
Cyril Scurrell
Stanley Wootton
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