This year's Remembrance celebrations by Great Western Railway will be especially significant as it also marks 70 years since the end of the Korean War in which many West Country men served.
81,000-Armed Forces personnel fought in the Korean War, and many soldiers from the Gloucester Regiment and the Royal Fusiliers were involved in some of the heaviest fighting. Last Monday, 6 November, a short service was held at Royal Navy Air Station at Culdrose Helston, where alongside Royal Navy personnel, West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas, the mayors of Penzance and Helston, representatives from the NHS and GWR, and veterans from all three services of the Armed Forces.
After the service, in partnership with The Veterans Charity, poppy wreaths were loaded onto a Merlin Mk2 helicopter and flown to the Royal Citadel in Plymouth, then delivered to Plymouth railway station to be joined by wreaths from railway stations throughout the region that had been collected by a Go South West ‘Poppy Bus'.
From Plymouth, the wreaths will travel by train to London Paddington in time for the GWR Remembrance service being held today, Friday, 10 November, where they will be joined by over 200 wreaths collected from GWR stations and delivered to Paddington by the following ‘Poppy' trains
- 06.18 from Carmarthen;
- 06.34 from Paignton;
- 07.18 from Plymouth
- 07.13 from Great Malvern;
- 07.24 from Taunton;
- 07.25 from Worcester Shrub Hill.
GWR Sales and Marketing Director, Amanda Burns, said: “We're incredibly grateful to RNAS Culdrose and Go South West for supporting our fourth Poppies to Paddington operation and ensuring poppy wreaths from Cornwall can be placed by the war memorial at Paddington.
“Poppies to Paddington was conceived in 2020 to ensure communities within the GWR network could honour our fallen heroes despite the restrictions in place around Covid-19, and this kind-hearted gesture by RNAS Culdrose and Go South West sums up the very spirit of the occasion.”
From today, Friday, 10 November until Sunday, 12 November, Military personnel and veterans attending services of remembrance can travel to and from the events by train if they are serving military personnel in uniform, or show a current Ministry of Defence-issued identity card, Veterans Railcard, Veterans Oyster card, or other proof of service such as a Ministry of Defence-issued Veterans ID card.
The Veterans Charity CEO, Danny Greeno, said: “We are very proud to have wonderful support from GWR for its Remembrance initiative which is now in its fourth year. Poppies To Paddington will once again be hugely poignant, paying respects to the fallen. Thanks to great support from the military and railway communities, wreaths are still able to complete their journey from across the South-West to Paddington to form the backdrop to the annual Remembrance service on Platform 1.
“Bringing communities, service personnel and Veterans together to remember in this special way is so important to ensure the sacrifices of the fallen are never forgotten. Our sincere thanks to everyone who is helping to make this happen, especially to GWR and RNAS Culdrose.”
RNAS Culdrose commanding officer Captain Stuart Irwin said: “An aircraft on a training sortie was available so we were delighted to step in on this occasion and help with this annual event. Remembering those who have lost their lives in the defence of our country is important to us here at RNAS Culdrose.”
Plymouth Citybus and Go Cornwall bus commercial director, Mark Collins, said: “We have been long-time supporters of the Poppy Appeal and the Royal British Legion. We launched our ‘Poppy Bus' back in 2018 and it has been serving passengers of Plymouth and Cornwall for five years. What better vehicle to transport poppies on than a Poppy Bus?”
