| Main Performers | The Royal Navy,
The Army,
The Royal Air Force (RAF) |
| Orchestra or Band | Massed Bands of the Brigade of Guards,
Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry |
| Set List | 'Voluntary in D', Croft,
The Procession,
Thanksgiving,
Hymn - 'Now Thank We All Our God',
Remembrance,
Hymn - 'O Valiant Hearts',
Last Post,
Reveille,
Hymn - 'Onward Christian Soldiers' |
| Royal Presence | HM Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother),
HRH Princess Margaret,
HM Queen Mary |
| Performance Notes | "The Queen, Queen Mary, and Princess Margaret, all wearing poppies, attended the British Legion Festival of Remembrance, which was held in the Albert Hall on Saturday evening. Members of the Government, Dominion High Commissioners, senior officers of the services, and members of the Parliament were also present. As on other occassions, the audience was made up of 5,000 legionaires selected by ballot from all parts of the country.
After the arrival of the Queen, heralded by the trumpeters of the Household Cavalry, came the muster of Legion standards and contingents from all the defence and auxiliary services and from the Chelsea Pensioners. The massed bands of the Brigade of Guards and trumpeters of the Royal Marines accompanied the community singing.
The service tableaux for the year were the Ceremony of Colours, provided by the Royal Navy, maze-marching by the boys of HMS Ganges, and a ceremonial display by the Royal Marines Band, Portsmouth. The Army Physical Training College gave a gymnastic display, and the Boys' Battery Band of the Royal Artillery played. The Royal Air Force staged a series of tableaux illustrating the training of a pilot.
The service of remembrance was conducted by the Very Rev. A R Duncan-Jones, Dean of Chichester, assisted by the choir, lay vicars, serving clerks, and precentor. After the sounding of the Last Post the Legion's Act of Remembrance was spoken by the president of the British Legion, Sir Ian Fraser MP.
To the sounds of Reveille the poppies of remembrance, 1,500,000 of them, one for each service man who has given his life since August 4 1914, floated down from the roof."
(The Times, 12 November 1951)
Countess Spencer and Captain Oliver Dawnay were in attendance.
The event was broadcast on BBC television from 18:55. |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1951/225) |