Sir – I was somewhat bemused to see the suggestion (last week’s Witney Gazette) that Liam Walker organised the first Armed Forces Day events in Carterton & Witney in June this year.
Perhaps he does not know that when Armed Forces Day was introduced in 2009, I was Carterton’s mayor and, together with the then Minister for the Armed Forces, led a short local ceremony which has been repeated annually by every subsequent mayor.
Carterton also holds a Battle of Britain service each September, in addition to Remembrance Sunday.
We were one of the first signatories to the Armed Forces Community Covenant and staunchly support all repatriations plus the Ride of Respect.
My memory of these events is that a great deal of hard work and money was put in behind the scenes by the RAF, county, district and town council staff and councillors.
On repatriation days, the civilian ceremonial was organised by the Royal British Legion; support for the bereaved came from forces charity SSAFA; traffic management by Carterton Lions; refreshments by Carterton University of the Third Age (U3A); respect, support and sympathy from the good people of Oxfordshire who turned out in their hundreds in all weathers and stood for hours in the open countryside to mark the passing of the corteges all along the route to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
We honour our fallen and support their families by our deeds, not words – quietly and with dignity.
I have attended almost every repatriation and armed forces event, yet I cannot remember Mr Walker at all.
Maxine Crossland, Burford Road, Carterton
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