Over the past week, I have had the profound privilege of attending several deeply moving Remembrance events across our community of Carmarthenshire.
As the Member of the Senedd for Sir Gaerfyrddin, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with veterans, serving personnel, families, and neighbours to honour those who gave everything for our freedom is one of the most humbling parts of my role.
Standing Together in Kidwelly and Llanelli
In our own towns, the sense of solemnity and community pride was unmistakable. Attending the Remembrance service in Kidwelly, a town close to my heart where I have been proud to serve on the Town Council, and the service at Llanelli Parish Church, I was struck once again by how faithfully our communities keep the flame of remembrance alive.
On both occasions, it was an honour to lay a wreath on behalf of the people I represent. Watching generations gather in silence, from older veterans wearing their medals with quiet dignity to young cadets and local schoolchildren learning the true cost of peace, reminds us that remembrance is not merely an annual ritual, but a living duty passed down from one generation to the next.
Poppies to Paddington
I was also privileged to take part in the Poppies to Paddington initiative, presenting a wreath at the station as part of this remarkable railway tribute. Seeing wreaths placed aboard early morning trains from communities along the Great Western Railway network, bound for London Paddington to arrive in time for the Armistice Day service, is a poignant reminder of how towns and villages like ours across Wales and the West were united in sacrifice during wartime, and remain united in gratitude today. These local acts of remembrance are the very heart of Poppies to Paddington, and seeing hundreds of wreaths come together at London Paddington never loses its impact. It is a powerful reminder that those who served and sacrificed are remembered, honoured, and never forgotten.
A Personal Tribute in Our Constituency Office Window
Closer to home, we wanted the window of our constituency office to reflect that same spirit of local remembrance and personal history. We put together a special display featuring original wartime photographs captured by the late Carmarthenshire photographer Stanley Phillips MIBP.
Stanley’s own life story embodies the quiet resilience of his generation. Having served at sea in the Merchant Navy during the Great War, braving perilous waters to keep Britain supplied, he stepped forward once again during the Second World War to serve on the home front in the Home Guard. Displaying his photographs in our window has been a deeply touching tribute, not only to a talented local chronicler who preserved the faces and moments of wartime Carmarthenshire, but to the ordinary men and women who answered the call whenever their country needed them. Seeing passers-by pause at the window to look closely at those images has meant a great deal to all of us in the office.
Lest We Forget
Whether on the platforms of our local railway stations, in the pews of Llanelli Parish Church, at the war memorial in Kidwelly, or through the lens of a Carmarthenshire photographer who served in two world wars, the message of this past week remains clear: we owe our freedom, our democracy, and our way of life to their courage.
We will remember them.
