Notice was given of the agreed date, 2.30pm Tuesday 11th June 2013, the day before the FIG Annual Reception in London. The RAF Church at St Clement Danes in the Strand was booked and it was agreed that the Chaplain, Rev'd David Osborn would lead the service and the Chaplain in Chief to the RAF, The Venerable (Air Vice-Marshall) R J Pentland would give the address. A trumpeter from the RAF Band was requested to sound two fanfares during the service. The Order of Service was agreed and was produced by Martin Hooker who also arranged for the admission cards to be printed.
For security reasons those wishing to attend had to have an admission card and over the next few weeks applications began to flow in, some by post but the majority by email
The day of the service arrived, the weather was dry and almost 200 people gathered at the church. The service opened with a fanfare played by the trumpeter from
the Band of the Royal Air Force as the clergy procession entered the church.
The choir then sang the anthem 'I was
glad' by Sir Hubert Parry before the bidding payer by the Reverend David Osborn. The first hymn was 'Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!' during which Sir
Rex's medals and awards were taken up to the altar by his son, Tony.
I was privileged to read the lesson from Chapter 15 of St John's Gospel verses 9 to
17 and the poem 'High Flight' by
John Gillespie Magee was read by Tammy Thurman, grand-daughter to Sir Rex. The choir
then sang 'The Lord's my Shepherd (Psalm
23) before the tribute was given by Mr. David Tatham, CMG, a former
Governor of the Falkland Islands and a Vice-President of the Falkland Islands
Association.
Mr
Alan Huckle, a former Governor of the Falkland Islands and Chairman of the
Falkland Islands Association, read a letter from the The Rt Hon William Hague
MP, Secretary of
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.
Next came the hymn 'He
who would valiant be' which was followed by a tribute by Mr John Weightman,
cousin to Sir Rex, on behalf of the family.
The sermon was given by The Venerable R J
Pentland, Chaplain-in-Chief & Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force and this was followed by prayers led by the Reverend
David Osborn.
After the Commendation the choir sang 'God be in my head' by Walford-Davies and then, following another
fanfare, the congregation sang 'Praise,
my soul, the King of Heaven' The
Chaplain in Chief then gave the Blessing and as the clergy processed out the
familiar voice of Louis Armstrong rang out singing 'On Blueberry Hill' a great favourite with Sir Rex.
In addition to Lady Hunt and members of her family the congregation included men and women who had fought in
the 1982 conflict also former diplomats who had known the Hunt's in Uganda and
other overseas postings together with a number of former Governors of the
Falkland Islands. Several Members of Parliament from both the House of Commons
and the House of Lords attended. Representatives came from the RAF, RAF
Charities, SAMA82 and the Falkland Families Association together with other
friends and members of the FIA, Falkland Islanders and Falkland students
studying in the UK.
Brigadier General Julian Thompson CBE, OBE with Lady Hunt after the service
Tony Hunt to the right of the group
After the service many went on to a reception in The
Betjeman Room at The Charing Cross Hotel where a condolences book, which had
been started in the Falkland Islands, was available for those present to add
their comments. The signed letter from the Foreign Secretary, which had been
read out at the service, was handed to Lady Hunt together with the Condolences
Book.
It was generally agreed that the event was a success. Part of this account may be found on the FIA website at (click here) where there are links to David Tatham's tribute and the letter from the Foreign Secretary.
