The only time I have seen The Guards’ Chapel fuller was when a Carol Service was being televised. The Cenotaph Requiem is an abridged version of a traditional Catholic Requiem: Introit, Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Pie Jesu, In Paradisum. A friend who sang in a choir in Co Louth will know the missing parts are: Gradual, Tract, Sequence, Offertory, Lux aeterna and Libera me. Instead the pieces were interspersed with readings about World War One and more recent conflicts.
Yeoman Warder, Darren Hardy recited a poem he wrote: Tyne Cot Passchendaele. He was a Colour Sergeant in the Band of the Coldstream Guards and played the pipes for the Honourable Artillery Company. His Northumberland accent gave his poem additional poignancy.
I left my home for Flanders fields,
To where the poppies sway.
To go and fight for those I love,
To stand with men so brave.
But now I’m lost beneath the ground,
My body still to find.
All that remains now is my name,
At Tyne Cot Passchendaele
So now I wait in Flanders fields,
Above the poppies sway.
A silent witness of a time,
That denied me of old age.
I sacrificed my future hopes,
Pray say it’s not in vain.
My name amongst the legions lost,
At Tyne Cot Passchendaele.
Should you come to Flanders fields,
On which the poppies sway.
Gaze upon the vale of souls,
Remember why we came.
Do not forget what happened here,
We gave you your today.
Our countless names of sacrifice,
At Tyne Cot Passchendaele.