Commonwealth War Graves in Cosham lit up with bright candlelights to honour fallen over Christmas

A sea of flickering tributes were set up in Portsmouth and other burial sites in the UK. The Commonwealth War Graves at Christ Church Portsdown in Cosham were lit up with a series of candlelights.

Dedicated volunteers placed battery-powered lights at 186 graves, which will be reused next year. Under the stewardship of veteran-support group Project 71, the event marked its fourth anniversary by expanding its reach to 350 cemeteries, up from 200 last year.

Tributes were paid to every individual, with bright bulbs placed at every grave. Organiser Lorie Coffey said, "Operation Candlelight is to remember the fallen at Christmas.

“This year has been quite exceptional, we are very proud to say that 350 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the UK have been visited this year and lights put down, which represents tens of thousands of men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice and were not able to celebrate Christmas. So this is our way of remembering them over the Christmas period.”

Paul Tansom and his wife Dawn, who volunteered in Cosham, said: “It's important to remember who died, it's a bitterly cold night tonight, they would have endured far worse, they fought for our country and for their families.”

On June 4, 1944, the Headquarters staff of the Second Army, which was to represent British Arms in the liberation of Europe, met at Christ Church on the eve of D-Day “to dedicate to Almighty God the task which lay before them”. The service was organised by the vicar, the Reverend RBS Gillman, and General Sir Miles Dempsey, Commander of the British Second Army.