Armistice Day 2012: WFA's Annual Service of Remembering at St Lawrence Jewry, London

The address given by Richard Hughes, WFA Legal Officer, at the WFA's Annual Service of Remembering at St Lawrence Jewry, London, on 11 November 2012.

After welcoming the WFA's guests, Richard went on to state the following, a clear statement about the purpose of the WFA.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Canon David Parrott and everyone here at St Lawrence Jewry for all the help and support the WFA has received from him in organising the service today; David has been quite superb in helping us with all the arrangements. St Lawrence Jewry is one of the finest churches in England for music and we are indebted to Jamie McVinnie and the choir for all their hard work. We also thank David Roberts, the Deputy Chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, for representing the Lloyds Group today. Lloyds is a great British institution - witness their recent Olympic sponsorship - and it was no surprise that when we approached the Lloyds' estates team to ask if we could pay our respects at their memorial today, they responded immediately. Finally, the WFA is very grateful to Simmons and Simmons LLP for all the practical support they give us throughout the year and we are delighted that Jon Hammond is here with us to represent the partnership.

I want to spend a few minutes this morning talking about The Western Front Association. On 11 November, The Western Front Association usually gathers at the Cenotaph, and then at the Guards' Chapel. The exception to this of course is when, as today, 11 November falls on Remembrance Sunday.

One advantage of moving away from the Cenotaph this year, so close to the start of the 1914-18 anniversaries, is that it gives us the opportunity of doing something a little different and in doing that, we have the chance to reflect on what we are about, and why the work of the Association matters.

Perhaps the best way I can do this is by reading you two short passages. The first is the citation for the awarding of a Victoria Cross, won on the Guillemont Road at the Somme in 1916. It goes like this:

"During an attack he tended the wounded in the open all day, under heavy fire, frequently in view of the enemy. During the ensuing night he searched for wounded on the ground in front of the enemy's lines for four hours. Next day he took one stretcher-bearer to the advanced trenches, and, under heavy fire, carried an urgent case for 500 yards into safety, being wounded in the side by a shell splinter during the journey. The same night he took up a party of trusty volunteers, rescued three wounded men from a shell-hole twenty-five yards from the enemy's trench, buried the bodies of two officers, and collected many identity discs, although fired on by bombs and machine guns. Altogether he saved the lives of some twenty badly wounded men, besides the ordinary cases which passed through his hands. His courage and self-sacrifice were beyond praise."

The second is also the citation for a Victoria Cross, won at the Battle of Passchendaele [Third Ypres] in 1917:

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. During four days of heavy fighting he attended the wounded with untiring energy and exceptional gallantry at very great personal risk. On one occasion, while dressing the wounded in a shell crater under very heavy shellfire, he was hit by bits of shrapnel about the legs and face, but continued to dress each man in his turn and to encourage others who were waiting. On the following day, while dressing the wounded under very heavy shellfire he was blown over by a shell, but picked himself up and continued his work with the greatest pluck and devotion. He refused medical assistance in both cases, and his indomitable courage was the cause of saving many casualties."

What is quite striking is how similar those two passages are, and the WFA members here will know why. They both belong to the same man. Noel Chavasse was the only man to win the Victoria Cross twice in the Great War. Chavasse was a doctor and the son of the Bishop of Liverpool. His service record in the Great War is quite extraordinary, and the history of his regiment records that:

"...there was never a man who was better loved by officers and men alike; there was never a man who gave himself more unsparingly in the service of others. His bravery was not the reckless or flamboyant type but the far finer bravery that sprang from his determination that nothing should stand in the way of whatever he considered his duty."

The direct relevance for the Western Front Association, and the reason why Noel Chavasse is an iconic figure for the WFA, is to be found in the opening lines of our constitution which say that:

"The Western Front Association was formed with the aim of furthering interest in the period 1914-18, to perpetuate the memory, courage and comradeship of those of all sides who served...".

Those words are really important - it's not "and perpetuate", it's "to perpetuate". Furthering interest in the Great War is a means to an end, and critically, it is the remembrance of the men and women of the Great War and their courage and comradeship that is at the heart of what we do. As most of our members are based in the UK, there is inevitably a focus on the British experience and that of our allies from across what was then the Empire, but what binds us together is the shared belief that those we remember represent a set of values that we think are so important.

But memory of course can fade over time. Our first duty to make sure the history is right. Bad history debases the memory of those who served in the Great War, so as an educational charity, we are committed to academic rigour in the study of the 1914-18 period. With Peter Simkins as our President, second rate is not an option in this regard. As the 2014-2018 commemorations approach, we will be trying to make sure that the real story is told, yet we fear the popular press will drown us in cliché, and the lions led by donkeys will yet again escape from their enclosure, closely pursued by Black Adder going forth. The Association is already planning many events for these four years, serious and social, and is expecting to be busier than it has ever been, and I would commend our excellent website to you. Throughout this period, by our magazines, our website, our seminars, our tours, and our presence at many events, we will try and honour those who served in the Great War by telling their story with accuracy.

We shall indeed wear our anoraks with pride!

If the history is right, then, and only then, can we see with clarity the true courage and comradeship of those who served. Courage encompasses physical bravery, but more than that, it includes the moral bravery of honour and duty. Comradeship certainly includes friendship but so many stories from the Great War show that it means love in its purest sense, and that takes us back to Noel Chavasse. As it says in John 15:13, "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends", the words which are to be found on Chavasse`s headstone in the Ypres Salient. Chavasse was exceptional but he was not alone, and it is in the values of men like Chavasse that the Western Front Association finds its inspiration and its imperative. We want to remember them and we want to cherish, and respect, and uphold, what they stand for.

Perhaps some will say we are nostalgic, looking back to a world that has passed, but this is our history, and we would argue that these are enduring qualities that are too important to let fade. As the poem goes,

"To you from failing hands we throw the torch

Be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow...".

So the WFA is not just a history club; it is more than that. As Colin Wagstaff said at the London Memorial this morning, it is a sentinel and we shall remain on guard. 

In the last letter to his father before he left England in 1914, Noel Chavasse wrote:

"Goodbye, my dear father. I am going to do my best to be a faithful soldier of Jesus Christ and King George. Your loving son, Noel".

The Western Front Association is going to do its best to be faithful to Noel Chavasse and his generation of the Great War, and we pledge ourselves to that.