A CHAPEL fell silent as the names of fallen soldiers from the First and Second World Wars were read aloud to keep their memories alive.

Members of the armed forces, veterans, and relatives of those killed in the wars attended the Turning the Pages ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford on June 24.

The tradition sees the names of 10 soldiers from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars and 10 from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry read from the Book of Remembrance to commemorate their lives and sacrifices they made fighting for their country.

John Mills – who served in 5 Squadron Banbury, part of the 39 (City of London) Signal Regiment (Volunteers) – read during the ceremony for the first time.

He said: “It’s like Remembrance Day when we all go to church and remember the fallen. It’s a tradition and we keep it going.

“We take turns in reading out the names and I was quite nervous – but it was an honour to do it. I don’t know those people but to read out their names keeps the memory alive.”

Mr Mills read out the names of soldiers from the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars. He was joined by Robert Drummond-Hay, who read the names of soldiers from the Ox and Bucks Light Infantry.

Mr Drummond-Hay, who himself served in the Royal Green Jackets, said: “It is important to keep this tradition going and I like taking part because I feel like I’m helping to preserve things.”

Mr Mills also works as a volunteer at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock and encouraged people to come and find out more about the history of soldiers from the county.

He said: "If people want to find out more about their loved ones they can come in and find out about them."

Mr Mills said he would research the names he had read from the list to find out more about the stories behind them.

Allan Ayris, originally from Bicester, attended with his family to hear the name of his father, Arthur, read out.

Arthur Ayris was 28 when he was killed in Dunkirk in 1940.

Mr Ayris, 79, said: “My father’s name was read out and it was very moving.

“I think this is really important and we’ve been wanting to come to one of the ceremonies for a while.”

The Turning the Pages ceremony, a now 15-year-old tradition, was held on Armed Forces Day, which saw a series of events held across the country to show support for service troops, veterans, service families and cadets.