This weekend, the Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador in Dublin will travel to the banks of the River Boyne to play a part in the commemoration of Irishmen who died in the First World War in the service of the Crown.

Julian King, HBM Ambassador, will jointly lead a ceremony of remembrance with the Mayor of Drogheda, Kevin Callan before joining a major conference on the Great War being held in the Westcourt Hotel in the town.

Taking place on the weekend of the 5th/6th November it remembers “the Drogheda men who never came home” alongside the Irishmen from what is now Northern Ireland with former servicemen and women from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) and the Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) and a large contingent of members from Whiteabbey Royal British Legion in County Antrim in attendance.

Details have just been revealed of this major development that follows over a decade of cross-border co-operation that also involves ex-servicemen from the Irish Defence Forces organisation, Óglaigh Náisiúnta na hÉireann Teoranta, with around 200 people, north and south to watch the laying of wreaths at the Drogheda War Memorial in Boyne-side Mary Street.

For the past few years, the Irish Tricolour has been dipped alongside the Royal British Legion’s standards – incorporating the Union Flag. It will be interesting to see whether the local representative, Gerry Adams TD will attend as this is happening in his constituency.

All of this is happening one week ahead of the Remembrance Sunday events across the United Kingdom, where many people will remember those who have served and fallen in the service of the Crown particularly in the two world wars, but also in the wars and conflicts since.

Those of us who support the various charities for the Forces, do so for many reasons. In my case, it is because I have quite a number of friends and relatives who did serve or are currently serving in HM Forces. It is important to remember, not just at this time of remembrance but right through the year. As Stephen Glenn says, he

was actually talking to a member of the Royal British Legion the other day, who is younger than my 42 years, who pointed out to me that wearing a poppy or a badge for the RBL is not just a one day thing for those who benefit from the work. It is year round and he will wear symbols indicating his membership and support of the work year round.

You can support the Royal British Legion by clicking on the link to the right, and there are other service charities as well and they can be found in the links to the right under ‘Forces Charities’.

Related articles

• Muslim youths will be out in force today – collecting money for the British Legion (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
• “Faces to the Forces” — A Million Messages of Support for UK Troops (uk.prweb.com)
• Generations of war veterans unite to launch poppy appeal (menmedia.co.uk)
• Poppy appeal aim to break records (bbc.co.uk)