County Hall in Taunton will be going poppy-red for the next three days as Somerset County Council gives its support to Remembrance Day commemorations.
The Lest We Forget Flag has been flying at County Council HQ all week and the building will be lit red on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening. On Sunday, Remembrance Day itself. the Union Flag will be flown.
The 100th Anniversary of the First World War gives this year’s commemorations extra significance. This morning the Leader and Chairman of the Council, Councillors David Fothergill and Nigel Taylor, laid a wreath at the memorial to the 33 council employees who lost their lives in the war.
Councillor Fothergill said: “Even though 100 years have passed, we should never forget the personal sacrifice was made by so many. I’m touched by the inscription on Curry Mallet memorial which captures so many feelings: ‘in the light we will remember them, in the dark we will never forget’”.
The Council has been working in partnership with Taunton Deane Borough Council and the Parish Councils of West Monkton and Cheddon Fitzpaine on the Somerset Wood project.
It will eventually see around 14,000 trees planted at the site near Monkton Heathfield in memory of the 11,281 Somerset Servicemen and women who lost their lives in the Great War.
The official naming and dedication of the site takes place at 3pm today, with local school children involved in the planting of the first trees.
HM’s Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Mrs Anne Maw, will lead the ceremony. There will also be a short Service of Dedication and Blessing conducted by the Archdeacon of Taunton, the Venerable Simon Hill, on behalf of The Bishop of Bath and Wells.
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