News
The Prince and The Duchess attend a service and reception to commemorate the end of Operation Banner
9th September 2008
Britain's 38-year military campaign to maintain security in Northern Ireland was praised for helping to keep the "forces of chaos at bay" by the Bishop of London.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall attended the ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral to commemorate the armed forces who served in Northern Ireland.
Dr Richard Chartres paid tribute to the servicemen and women who took part in the Army's longest deployment for their ability to "stand firm" until peace could be achieved.
The Bishop told the congregation, which included Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Defence Secretary Des Browne, "Military intervention can hold the forces of chaos at bay while people learn again how communities with very different histories and aspirations can live together and do business with one another.
"Operation Banner kept that vital part to which a more hopeful future for Ulster could enter."
The deployment known as Operation Banner began in 1969, ended in July 2007 and over its 38-year history saw more than 300,000 military personnel served in the province.
During that period more than 1,000 members of the armed forces died, with 6,116 wounded. Of those killed, 763 died as a direct result of terrorism.
Dr Chartres went on to tell those gathered: "The people of Northern Ireland and their community leaders have suffered much. They want to move on now and are at work building a new future.
"Much remains to be done, healing memories, embedding hope but the military phase, Operation Banner, has been brought to a conclusion and we can give thanks for it."
The hour-long commemoration service began with a fanfare of trumpeters.
Among the congregation were Conservative leader David Cameron, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, chief of the general staff, other high ranking military officers and former premier Tony Blair.
The moving church service saw hymns sung and included prayers for those who served in Northern Ireland.
One praised the armed forces for their "courage", "fortitude" and "dedication to duty", while another asked that the "building blocks of peace may be strengthened and secured".
The Last Post was sounded and echoed around the cavernous interior of St Paul's and silence was kept for a few moments after it ended to remember all those who died.
A few moments later the Operation Banner memorial candle was lit by Mary Moreland, who lost her husband to a terrorist attack in Northern Ireland in 1988.
Private John Moreland was a part-time soldier in the Ulster Defence Regiment and was killed while doing his civilian job as a coal merchant in Downpatrick, County Down.
The candle was lit as part of the Act of Remembrance and symbolises all members of the armed forces killed over the last 38 years.
After the St Paul's ceremony ended, hundreds of Armed Forces veterans marched from the cathedral to the nearby Guildhall for a reception.
As they filed past the historic building The Prince of Wales, dressed in a general's frock coat, took the royal salute.
At the reception The Prince, who was accompanied by The Duchess of Cornwall, made a short statement describing how events in Northern Ireland had touched his own family.
He said: "The effects of the situation in the province have been felt by many people, both in the United Kingdom and beyond, and I can only too well imagine how shattering it has been for those who have lost loved ones during these difficult times, having myself experienced the loss of my great uncle, Lord Mountbatten, to a terrorist bomb in 1979."
Mountbatten was killed by a provisional IRA bomb detonated while he and his party were on a sailing boat off the coast of the Republic of Ireland.
The Prince added: "It is vital that we, as a nation, remember all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in bringing greater peace and security in Northern Ireland."
In the lavish surrounding of the Guildhall's Great Hall, the old soldiers were also praised by Sir Jock Stirrup.
He told them: "Operation Banner is a remarkable story. As we knew at the outset though, military prowess and valour alone were never going to be enough.
"Real progress would require a political solution. It was long in coming, but come it did, thanks in no small measure to the resolve of politicians on all sides."
He added: "But it was the military who made the solution possible. They created the opportunity for politics to take hold."
He told those gathered: "In those long years of struggle - in the latter just as much as the early days - the Troubles dominated the world's headlines.
"Bogside, the Ardoyne, the Divis Flats - names that will have a special resonance for so many of you. Names that entered our national psyche.
"And through it all the men and women of the armed services did their duty in the way for which they are renowned."
The former Lord Mayor of London, Lord Levene, also addressed the veterans and told them: "You delivered Northern Ireland to a different and better place. You brought stability and with stability comes peace, a peace which can, and is, being built upon in so many positive ways."
The Prince and The Duchess mingled with the guests at the reception - who included former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher - and chatted for almost an hour to the veterans and their families.
The Prince also spoke to Mrs Morland, who had taken part in the earlier service.
After speaking to The Prince, she reflected on the 38 years of Operation Banner.
Mrs Morland, 50, from Banbridge in Northern Ireland, said: "It wasn't nice what people had to go through to get where we are today but without the sacrifices of all the regiments we wouldn't have peace."