Aylesbury MP Laura Kyrke-Smith: "We are forever indebted to our armed forces communities and veterans in Aylesbury and the villages"

On Remembrance Sunday, it was an honour to join Buckinghamshire Council, Aylesbury Town Council, representatives of the armed forces, police and other services, community organisations and many residents in Market Square for a powerful and poignant wreath-laying service. This Remembrance Sunday felt particularly poignant to me, in today's turbulent world. 

In my column this week, I want to share my deep gratitude for the people who make up the armed forces community in Aylesbury and the villages, including serving troops and service families, the cadets and reservists at the army reserve centre on Oxford Road and, of course, our veterans, of whom we have almost 3,000. Each and every one of them makes an immense contribution to our country.

Remembrance is embedded in the community. In the heart of our town, the war memorial in Market Square commemorates 264 soldiers who died in the first world war and 106 soldiers who died in the second world war, as well as Simon J. Cockton, one of the crew of four in an Army helicopter that was shot down by friendly fire over the Falkland Islands in June 1982. Inscribed on the memorial are the prescient words, “Their memory lives for evermore”. Successive generations have lived up to those words and we will, too: we will never forget.

Helping to preserve the memory is the Aylesbury branch of the Royal British Legion. I thank everyone for their work, including Philip Turner, Lorna Muir and Brian Morris, who serve as president, chairman and vice-chairman respectively. I attended the Aylesbury branch’s launch of the poppy appeal at Friars Square shopping centre. We watched a moving performance by Aylesbury School of Dance and there was a powerful two-minute silence. It was great to see the poppy selling get under way so quickly.

We must also recognise the contributions of Commonwealth and other personnel from across the world who have often been overlooked in commemorations, but who have played a vital role in protecting and defending the UK and deserve their rightful place in our national story. I think for example of the Indian troops who fought and died in the world wars, marked by marigold wreaths today.

Finally, we must remember not just through words, but through deeds. I am proud that our Government is backing our armed forces communities by putting the armed forces covenant fully into law and establishing an independent armed forces commissioner to improve service life. I am also proud of the measures this Government are taking to ensure that veterans have access to the employment, housing and mental health support that they so desperately need.

We are forever indebted to those who serve - those who serve now, those who served in the past and those who lost their lives in doing so. Through our work to strengthen support for our armed forces communities and our veterans, we honour them.