As a serving reservist officer, former police officer and Royal Military Policeman with a son serving in the Royal Marines, the period of remembrance each year is extremely important to my family.

As one of the founders of the Armed Forces Lodge and supporter of the Tercentenary Appeal for Fisher House launched by the Provincial Grand Master for Warwickshire, this year, in terms of my Freemasonry, seems even more significant.

As the period draws to a close the last seven days have been both poignant and eventful, sharing the events of the week with my fellow Freemasons, along with the relevance of supporting Fisher House seems a fitting way to add to the momentum of the Tercentenary Appeal.

The journey began at the National Arboretum for the inaugural National Masonic Service of Remembrance on Saturday the 2nd of November. Along with members of the Warwickshire Armed Forces Lodge and the PGM who laid a wreath within the Masonic Garden we witnessed the first National Masonic event at this most beautiful and thought-provoking site. That first sounding of the last post, the first of what would be several two-minute silences and the reading of the Kohima Epitaph set the scene for a memorable week ahead. I hope that Warwickshire secure the opportunity to host the event during our Tercentenary year.

Warwickshire Armed Forces Lodge have instigated an initiative working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to care for almost 200 war graves in Coventry and Birmingham through the ‘Eyes on Hands On’ volunteer scheme. Sunday the 3rd was a busy day at Coventry London Road cemetery ensuring that all 180 war graves were presentable with the names of the fallen clearly visible including our own Victoria Cross winner Battery Sergeant Major C.E.Parker V.C. I had no idea then, that the link to the Victoria Cross and Masonry was to appear again the following weekend.

Saturday 9th November took me to the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of His Majesty the King and the Grand Master, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent, the evening delivered a tidal wave of emotion which cannot be accurately captured on the television. The appearance of the remaining D-Day veterans secured a standing ovation lasting over ten minutes and the laying of over 400 red roses in memory of all those lost during Operation Herrick in Afghanistan was equally powerful. The evening also presented an opportunity to meet with WO2 Johnson Beharry. The opportunity to shake his hand twice was memorable, once to thank him for his service and once as a fellow Freemason. I did not realise then that I would see him again less than 24 hours later.

Sunday took me to Horse Guards Parade as part of a contingent drawn from the 56-Armed Service Lodges across the UK. Seeing my newly found Brother escorting the Chelsea Pensioners was a bonus.

Moving onto Whitehall and later marching past the Cenotaph alongside cheering crowds, the massed bands and giving an ‘eyes right’ to Prince William taking the salute to back onto Horse Guards was an experience I shall never forget and the pride of Serving and being a Freemason shall remain with me for many years.

Returning home to lay the wreath at our local Service of Remembrance finished the day and was a reminder of how the importance of this time is to everyone, from the streets of the Capital to a small Warwickshire Village.

During my own reflections, my thoughts turn to Fisher House, and knowing that my direct debit is done, and our Bees provide a source of further support to the Appeal through our ‘Honey for Heroes’ Project.

The reality is there will be some of us who are serving and who have children and relatives who serve. The world as we know is an increasingly dangerous and volatile place, being deployed and training for deployments carries great risk of injury and harm both physical and mental.

I pray that I will never receive a call saying my son is on his way to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s military wing, if it comes my wife and I will be in the car and heading to Fisher House to be close to him and how wonderful it will be knowing we can do that thanks to the Brethren of Warwickshire.