An Army Chaplain marked the culmination of a distinguished and varied career in the military at a Remembrance service in his hometown on Sunday.
Twenty-two years after joining the Army as a systems engineering technician with The Royal Signals, Padre Ken Adolphe, who grew up in Swanage, led the town’s main Remembrance service at St Mary’s Church.
He had this to say afterwards " Although I particularly wanted to go to Swanage for Remembrance, it wasn't until I saw the draft article that it hit home just how special this was going to be.
When I arrived in the church in Swanage I was given a warm welcome by the clergy there, and am grateful that they let me play a role in their service. My brother brought along our dad (ex REME), which I hadn't been expecting and that added another layer of meaning. There were lots of people that I knew, including old school and church friends. During the 2 minute silence I very nearly lost my composure as I was thinking about two close friends of mine who died in Afghanistan, Pete Thorpe and Mark Cridge, both R SIGNALS, but I was just about able to hold myself together to deliver the prayer!
After the Church Service I went with my brother and father to the War Memorial for the wreath laying. I was then asked by the 3 Squadron SSM to join in the group photo; in my time at Blandford it's always been lovely to be considered 'part of the gang', which isn't always the case as an attached arm. All in all a very special and memorable final Remembrance in the Army."
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