Portsmouth hospital staff join together to remember military colleagues on Armistice Day

The atrium at Queen Alexandra Hospital was filled this morning as more than one hundred people took the time to pay their respects to those in the armed forces.

Armed forces covenant and veteran aware co-ordinator Keith Malcolm, who was in the navy for 15 years, said: ‘It is about the armed forces and their families not being forgotten and remembering the sacrifice they had made.’

Reverend Dawn Banting led the service while Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust (PHT) chairman Melloney Poole read John F Willcocks poem, The inquisitive mind of a child, and there were readings from Corporal Leoni Jeanes, Private Malang Sillah and Petty Officer Naval Nurse Sarah Hudson.

Trust chief executive Mark Cubbon said: ‘It is really important for us in the trust to do this because we have long history with the armed forces.

‘This site used to be a military hospital and we have military colleagues working with us now. In Portsmouth and the areas we serve we have a large population of veterans.

‘This is a very big event for us.’

Alexander Langford was a patient in the hospital but the 12-year-old put on his uniform and represented 2260 (Waterlooville) Squadron Air Training Corps at the service in the hospital in Cosham.

He said: ‘I wanted to represent my squadron and it is really important to remember because they fought for us and gave their lives for us.’