Hi all, I have since joining this forum wanted to share this with forum members, but to put it into the written word is not easy, so put simply, a good friend and member of this forum in 1994 visited Oosterbeek cemetery, he went in with little and came out with a lot, this piece of music, whilst in there he found himself rooted to the grave of Pte Alfred Guthrie4469508 DP 4thBrigade HQ, he stood there for some time, and as he moved away he brought with him this music, and on arriving home sat and played it on his piano, within a short time, these words were written by his good friend Tony Mills, shortly after I arranged for a local choir to sing and record it, ( with organ accompaniment) this is what you hear today. This thread seemed a good place to post it, so tonight, did my best added a pictures and the words and downloaded it onto Utube, and then to here, I do hope after reading the above, you will spare a minute to listen. It’s been on Utube for some time but in a different guise. This is a performance by the Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band one of the British Army's 23 Military Bands. Here the band performs "Remembrance" at the Festival of Remembrance in the Barbican TheatreYork alongside the York Ladies choir and Backworth Male Voice Choir and it was recorded on November 4th 2007. And was arranged for this concert by Director of Music, Captain Jason Griffiths (ex Para band, I gave him a copy of the music in Oosterbeek cemetery some years before) WE WILL REMEMBER THEM regards lofty REMEMBRANCE MUSIC OOSTERBEEKwmv - YouTube [YOUTUBE]g5K5TAJz90c[/YOUTUBE] Remembrance - The Heavy Cavalry and Cambrai Band - YouTube [YOUTUBE]XFxoQKNiCTo[/YOUTUBE]
Wonderful stuff Lofty. Even though I've heard Nigel play the tune before (at the SOGS) and I know the story behind it, hearing it performed by the choir really brought the piece to life for me. Nigel and Tony should be very proud. All the best mate and thanks for taking the time to put this post on.
Hi all, today I received an email from Nigel who wrote this music, as he has for some time wanted to find the family of Pte Alfred Guthrie 4469508 buried in Oosterbeek. So very little is known about this soldier, and his demise at Arnhem. Nigel this week had some help from BBC Newcastle when they interviewed him live during a program in which he explained about the music Rememberance, and his wish to make contact with the family, a link to the program here BBC Newcastle - Jon and Anne, 18/10/2012 starts at 25m-35s Alfred Guthrie, was 27 years of age , he was attached to the Army Air Corps, 4th Parachute Bde Defence platoon. Son of John Lyons Guthrie and Ada Rome Guthrie of Newcastle On Tyne. He was married to Sarah Greenwell Guthrie of St Anthony's, Newcastle. I have no idea if they had children. Lets hope this may bring a result, Nigel ask me to post this,as he is aware that WW2t forum members have been known to excel given a challenge regards lofty
Just to update the thread: there was no response from the radio appeal. Back in 2012 I put a thread on an ancestry website which also yielded no results. I've recently updated this and we have made some progress. It's still in the lap of the gods if we get any further but this is the best advancement for some time. I will post again if we get lucky.
Since posting on here one of our members has kindly found and passed me some information which looks good. We need to verify it is correct. Unfortunately the two people located haven't telephone numbers listed, so will have to write. To speed things up, I was thinking whether there are members in the following areas who would be willing to hand deliver a letter for us? I need someone who lives in Cramlington and Morpeth Northumberland. PM me if you are genuinely interested. Thanks. Picture of Nigel, co writer of 'Remembrance' at Oosterbeek annual commemoration service September 2014.
Tonight I am pleased to write here that we have made contact with the Guthrie family. Over twenty years ago Nigel walked into Oosterbeek Commonwealth cemetery on a wet and overcast day and felt drawn to Private Guthrie's graveside. He came away and found himself putting pen to paper and writing the piece of music he would later call 'Remembrance.' As time went by he wanted to find out more about this particular British soldier and this now has happened. For this we have WW2talk member GUY HUDSON to thank who has provided some of the best information ever which has led us to the family.
Lofty's grandson placing a Remembrance Cross on Private Alfred Guthrie's grave in 2012 Lofty with friends Sean and Barry at Private Alfred Guthrie's grave in 2008
Unfortunately Nigel,could not be at Arnhem this year, but having made contact with the family of Alfred Guthrie,(thanks to a member here) he was able to send them wooden crosses the write thier tributes on, and get them back just in time, to deliver to me to take to Arnhem for the Commemorations. The tributes were respectfully laid at Alfred's grave.
Following the above, I was quite touched by the envelope the family returned the crosses in, and the words they had highlighted for the postman. The story of this music and words was mentioned during the service in Oosterbeek, in Dutch and addressed to the children, and has been talked about at other venues, see link. http://airborne-herdenkingen.nl/en/airborne-news/
"Remembrance" was played at its spiritual home in Oosterbeek last weekend. Tony Mills and Nigel Everett are indebted to all involved and would especially like to thank the Trompetterkorps der Knoinklijke Marechausse for their brilliant technical arrangement and performance, Major Nick Lemmens for singing the piece so well and from the heart, and special thanks to Major BG Leszek Mieczkowski ( Polish Army) for his superb conducting of the piece
Well done Nigel and Tony. Things have gone full circle. Guy Hudson WW2talk.com member, thank you again for finding the link to the Guthrie family.
A few years back Nigel and Tony were interviewed on the local Forces radio station here in Colchester about their composition. This can be heard on the following link:
Hi, I am a relative of Alfred (great nephew) and will be travelling to his grave in August from Amsterdam with another of his great nephews and his great great nephew and niece who have are in Europe on vacation from Australia. We were planning on getting train to Oosterbeek but have no plans from there as it stands. Any recommendations? Thanks Stephen
