The centenary year of the outbreak of the First World War was emphatically marked when 1200 packed Winchester Cathedral for the Hampshire County Service in the presence of the Second Sea Lord and the Army’s Commander Land Forces along with the principal guest, Dame Mary Fagan, the county’s Lord-Lieutenant.
The service started with a fanfare of silver bugles played by the Band and Bugles of the Rifles with prayers led by the Armed Forces Chaplain General, Reverend Jonathan Woodhouse and readings by Dame Mary Fagan and Lieutenant General Sir Nicholas Carter, Commander Land Forces.
In a poignant close to the service, a lone piper from 19 Regiment, Royal Artillery (The Scottish Gunners) led a procession of Hampshire young people and cadets out through the Great West Door symbolising the determination of that generation to fight and sacrifice their futures for the freedoms people enjoy today.
[mappress] Press Release, June 24, 2014; Image: UK Navy