Photo: via Department of Public Information, Guyana.
Guyana marked Remembrance Sunday on November 8 with wreath-laying, a military parade and two minutes of silence at Georgetown’s Cenotaph, where President Irfaan Ali called for a renewed commitment to peace.
Ali laid the first wreath at the monument at Main and Church Streets, according to DPI’s report of Sunday morning’s ceremony.
His address honoured the men and women who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars. He also recognised sacrifices made in subsequent struggles for human dignity, social justice and freedom from oppression.
The ceremony included a Guyana Defence Force parade, the presidential salute, the Last Post and Reveille, alongside the silence and laying of wreaths.
A memorial more than a century old
The National Trust of Guyana’s record of the Cenotaph dates the monument to 1923. The marble structure stands 4.57 metres high, opposite the Bank of Guyana building.
Its four faces bear the words Devotion, Humanity, Fortitude and Sacrifice. The Trust describes it as a memorial to Guyanese soldiers who died while serving in the two world wars.
Remembrance Sunday is observed on the second Sunday of November. It is separate from the fixed date of November 11, Armistice Day, when remembrance services are also held. This year, the Sunday observance fell on November 8.
