Cathedral falls silent to remember war dead in Turning the Pages ceremony

Members of the armed forces, veterans, and relatives of those killed in the wars attended the Turning the Pages ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday.

The tradition sees the names of 10 soldiers from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and 10 from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry read from the Book of Remembrance to commemorate their lives.

John Mills – who served in 5 Squadron Banbury, part of the 39 (City of London) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) – read during the ceremony for the first time.

He said: “It’s like Remembrance Day when we all go to church and remember the fallen. It’s a tradition and we keep it going.

“We take turns in reading out the names and I was quite nervous – but it was an honour to do it. I don’t know those people but to read out their names keeps the memory alive.”

Mr Mills read out the names of soldiers from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars. He was joined by Robert Drummond-Hay, who read the names of soldiers from the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry.

Mr Drummond-Hay, who served in the Royal Green Jackets, said: “It is important to keep this tradition going and I like taking part because I feel like I’m helping to preserve things.”

Allan Ayris, originally from Bicester, attended with his family to hear the name of his father read out.

Arthur Ayris was 28-years-old when he was killed in Dunkirk in 1940.

Mr Ayris, 79, said: “My father’s name was read out and it was very moving.

“I think this is really important and we’ve been wanting to come to one of the ceremonies for a while.”

The Turning the Pages ceremony, a now 15-year-old tradition, was held Armed Forces Day, which saw a series of events held across the country to show support for service troops, veterans, service families and cadets.

In Oxfordshire parades and activity days were held in towns including Banbury, Carterton and Didcot, and flags flown from civic buildings in Oxford.