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"On the Eleventh Hour, of the Eleventh Day, of the Eleventh Month2

Posted At : 11 November 2010 16:04 | Posted By : Anne Hollick
Related Categories: Harlaxton Happenings
 
During World War II, Harlaxton Manor was headquarters of the reconnaissance unit, First British Airborne Division. Bombers and paratroopers from airfields all around Harlaxton carried the war to Hitler until the tide was turned and preparations began for D-Day.
 
 
Picture of Poppy on a wooden crossIn September, 1944, the First British Airborne went out from Harlaxton as part of Operation Market Garden, an allied offensive that included the largest airborne operation of all time. Paratroopers from Harlaxton itself were dropped at Arnhem—later fabled as “a bridge too far”—and were penned up by a German Panzer division that had not appeared on intelligence reports. They were unable to cross the Rhine in sufficient force, and of every five who went out from Harlaxton, only one young man came back. They were, we remind ourselves, the very same age as our current Harlaxton students now inhabiting the very same house.
 
That is why we at Harlaxton take Remembrance Day, as it is called here, very seriously. The entire nation comes to a halt for two full minutes of silence “on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month,” remembering those who have given their lives for freedom. So do we.
 
Pegasus memorial at Harlaxton CollegeVeterans of the Parachute Regiment come to Harlaxton on November 11 to lay wreaths of poppies and small crosses at the monument in Pegasus Courtyard built of concrete by the very hands of the soldiers billeted here during those terrible years. Harlaxton students and staff members join in, at the Regiment’s invitation. We have kept the monument here, and we honor the memory of those who gave their lives that we might be free today.
 
Here is the verse said at remembrance ceremonies at Harlaxton and all across Britain:
 
They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.
 
Dr G Kingsley
Principal

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