UK in Lebanon Commemorates Remembrance Day

11 Nov 2019

Lebanon - In a press release by the British Embassy in Beirut, it said: "Commemorating the annual 'Remembrance Day', the British embassy hosted a service at the Beirut Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery in honour of the brave soldiers on all sides, who were killed during World Wars I and II, and in other conflicts.

The service was attended by the families of Lebanese and Palestinian veterans, British Ambassador Chris Rampling; British Defence Attaché Lt. Col. Alex Hilton; senior representatives from the Lebanese Army Commander, Head of the Internal Security Forces and the Director General of the General Security. Ambassadors, diplomats and military attachés of US, European and Commonwealth countries were present.

At the end of the service, two minutes' silence was held before Ambassador Rampling and Commonwealth Ambassadors laid wreaths on the memorial.

Last week, Ambassador Rampling visited veteran soldier Sheikh Jad El Hassaniye in Ain Wou Zein and handed him his Commonwealth Ex Servicemen's League pension. Hassaniyeh, born in 1921, served in the British Army with the Trans-Jordanian Frontier Force (TJFF) from 1939 to 1945.

The Beirut War Cemetery is the final resting place of around 1,200 soldiers, most of whom were from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa. The war graves are supervised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission."