Friday 13th November 2020 - Lest We Forget

It’s been strange this year, not being able arrange door to door collections and placing collecting tins and trays of poppies in the village, for the annual Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. As mentioned in an earlier blog, I have been able to order wreaths and crosses, plus I was provided with some 2020 enamel pins. So, although the amount raised in the village won’t be anywhere as much as in previous years, Overstrand will still be making a contribution towards helping ex-service men and women.

Covid-19 prevented St Martins Church from being the venue for a service on Remembrance Sunday. However, Tim Bennett, author of Overstrand in the Great War, was able to arrange an outdoor service, centred round the war memorial, on both Remembrance and Armistice Days. He has also posted on You Tube, a video titled a Service for Remembrance Sunday 8th November 2020, which includes not only hymns and prayers but, where available, photographs of the men and boys featured in his book. On Remembrance Sunday the Union Flag was flown at half-mast from the flag pole on the car park and on Armistice Day a simple Poppy Flag which we purchased and donated to the Parish Council, flapped in the breeze.