RBL Field of Remembrance 2024

Thursday 7 November saw the opening of the Royal British Legion’s 96^th Field of Remembrance outside Westminster Abbey. The British Salonika Army (1915-1918) plot was in its usual position, opposite St Margaret’s Church, alongside the plot for The Old Contemptibles and not far from where a senior member of the Royal Family marks the opening of the Field by planting a cross. The Salonika plot is sponsored by the Society, which maintains the tradition established by veterans of the Salonika Reunion Association and carried forward in the interim by Philip Barnes, a former Patron of the SCS.

This year, the Field was opened by The Duchess of Gloucester, as the Queen was unavailable due to illness. The SCS was represented by Chair, Alan Wakefield, with members Darren Rolfe and Jonathan Saunders also attending. The Duchess of Gloucester took time to speak to the representative of each plot, with Alan Wakefield outlining the work of the SCS in keeping alive the memory of all those who served with the British Salonika Force in Macedonia during the First World War.

Thanks go to those members who either laid crosses of remembrance or forwarded details of commemorations to the Chair so these could be planted in the Salonika plot. We hope as many members as possible will avail themselves of the opportunity to visit the Field of Remembrance, which remains open until the evening of Sunday 17 November. The Field is always an impressive sight and an important part of Britain’s national act of Remembrance. That the SCS plays a role in this is a privilege and a mark that the Society continues with one of its founding principles, namely the remembering of all those who served with the BSF in Macedonia during the First World War, and particularly those who still lie in the soil of the Balkans.