Beautiful candlelit Christmas Remembrance hosted at Stonefall Cemetery

We were delighted to host a beautiful Candlelit Christmas Remembrance at Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate, on Sunday 17th December 2023.

The event, now in its sixth year, was the brainchild of local mum Benji Walker who had seen images of CWGC cemeteries in Europe lit by candlelight.

Benji said: “I was delighted to see so many people from Harrogate and further afield gathering together today to mark the sacrifice of the hundreds of CWGC casualties buried at Stonefall, many of them thousands of miles from home.

"I am delighted so many people attended to pay their respects today to mark the sacrifice of these brave heroes.”

Members of the public placed tealights on the graves of the fallen and this was followed by a short service of Remembrance.

Local Sea and Army Cadets took part in the service with a choir of carol singers providing the music. The stories of Sergeant John Hayden, aged 21, Sergeant Robert Rye, aged 19, were highlighted.

These men lost their lives 80 years ago to the day in an air crash in Eastrington near Goole returning from a bombing mission to Germany, whilst serving in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 

Andrew Jones MP attended the service and said: “It was poignant today to hear the stories of two of the young men buried at Stonefall who sacrificed their lives so that we can live in freedom today. The parents of one of them, Sergeant Rye, chose these words for his headstone, 'We the many, salute you the few'.  

"This is what we have done this afternoon. The Harrogate community has gathered to honour the hundreds of service personnel buried here, from across the Commonwealth, who served to protect our freedom.

"Joining this act of remembrance was a humbling and moving experience and I thank Benji Walker, for organising this annual service.”

Benji, who has a son serving in the Yorkshire Regiment, also used the event to raise money for the Commonwealth War Graves Foundation and Help for Heroes. 

Members of the public can still sponsor a candle with the profits being split between the charities. 

With more than 1,000 Commonwealth war graves, Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery is one of the largest CWGC sites in the North of England. The majority of burials are airmen who died during the Second World War when bomber command bases were established across Yorkshire. More than 600 of the casualties served with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Many of them were teenagers with the youngest being two 17-year-olds.

CWGC Public Engagement Coordinator, Elizabeth Smith, said: “The CWGC cares for 170,000 war graves from both World Wars at more than 12,500 locations in the UK. The Air Force plot at Stonefall Cemetery is unique in the North of England due to its size and resemblance to our sites overseas. At the end of the Second World War local people were encouraged to adopt the war graves of the Canadian servicemen and lay wreaths on behalf of their families at Christmas. It is wonderful to see, more than 70 years on, that the people of Harrogate continue to remember the fallen from across the Commonwealth at Christmas time.”