ATA Memorials
Our Association is proud to represent the civilian air services during the annual Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph in November.
During the Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph our wreath laying nominee joins two others, who represent the maritime and civil services, as they walk out behind the Chiefs of Staff to lay their wreaths before the service.
We have traditionally been represented by an ATA veteran, but recent nominees have been close relatives and in 2023 a veteran's grandson performed the role.
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In addition to the Cenotaph wreath laying, we also attend the evensong service at St Paul's Cathedral on Remembrance Sunday and during a private ceremony in the Crypt, we lay a wreath below the ATA's memorial plaque, where our Book of Remembrance is put on display.
Opposite: ATA Association members laying a wreath in the Crypt at St Paul's Cathedral, November 2023
THE ATA REMEMBERED
The ATAA Secretary delivers an annual poem in tribute:
​​Our custom now long since begun
When here we’ve stood and thought of those
Whose names in book were lost to us
Though simply numbered on the plaque
Their names mean more than a sum
They all played a part for us to start
To live free from then our foe
Which now we’ll strive to honour
And show how much we care
As year on year we will return
Lay wreath and offer prayer
For we who remain now join the refrain
"We will remember them."
