Remembrance Sunday 2024: York Remembers the Fallen and Those still Affected by Conflict

The city took two minutes to remember the fallen on Remembrance Sunday with a poignant service.

A Remembrance note from the University and YSU attached to a wreath in a series of wreaths.
(Image: Gavin Southway)

There was a good turnout at York’s Remembrance service on Sunday morning.

A parade involving veterans, air cadets, current service members, and members of the St John’s Ambulance among others started at Clifford’s Tower at 10:20 and arrived at the Memorial Gardens at 10:45.

Procession marches along the street carrying flags
The procession files past the North Eastern Railways memorial towards the Memorial Gardens.

The ceremony started with the Exhortation, followed by the Last Post and the two-minute silence, the start and end of which was signalled with a gun salute. The Reveille followed with the raising of standards, then the Kohima Epitaph.

The laying of wreaths followed, led by the Lord Mayor, Cllr Margaret Wells, and the Lord Lieutenant of North Yorkshire, Johanna Ropner. A variety of organisations laid wreaths, including both universities in the city.

A sermon was then conducted by Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, with prayers read, a hymn, Guide Me, and the national anthem sung by attendees.

There was a large turnout with hundreds lining the parade route applauding and arriving at the Memorial Gardens to pay their respects. Some watched the ceremony from the City Walls.

Procession marches along the street carrying flags
Someone departs the ceremony with Lord Mayor Margaret Wells (left) and Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell (right).

Among the wreaths was one of a 99-year-old Normandy landings veteran who received a warm reception from attendees.

The morning ended as it had started, with the parade filing back to Clifford’s Tower through the streets, with pavements full of applauding spectators.

During the Ceremony, the Archbishop said: “We are also uniting ourselves … to say that we want a world where common decency, courtesy and the common values of seeking the common good and acknowledging the value of every person are what we live for.”

In an era when conflict is still prevalent, not least in Ukraine and Gaza but in Myanmar, Sudan and elsewhere, the annual remembrance ritual still holds, just one Sunday a year on which the Commonwealth takes two minutes to reflect and respect those affected by it.

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