Operation Candlelight
Christmas Eve 2023
Operation Candlelight. The objective being to remember the fallen at Christmas and not just on Armistice Day.
To achieve this, we are asking people to place a small battery-operated tea light on a grave on Christmas Eve. These normally stay alight for at least 48 hours showing that somebody has thought of them at this time of year. If you do this you must commit to going back and collecting the tea light on Boxing day or the day after. It is most important that we do this if we wish to continue doing this going forward.
These small battery-operated lights can be purchased in pound shops or on Amazon. £10 will buy 24 lights. Why not have a collection at work and ask people to donate £1 towards this. Maybe if you post on social media you may have people donating a few or sponsoring you. This has certainly worked well for a few of us who have tried it. Why not ask at your local shops if they would donate a pack. You can show them this website to prove what we are trying to achieve.
You do not have to do every grave at your local cemetery. In some cases, more than one group of people will do a cemetery. If all the graves have a light, then feel free to place another. Please take a photo and post it on the OCL Facebook page. We want to light up the UK as they have been doing in the Netherlands since WW2.
You could do this as a community or family event. If you go to midnight mass and there are war graves in your churchyard, what better time to do it?
The lights are not very heavy and will blow away in the wind so you will either need to weight them down or make sure they are firmly pressed down, but please don’t go digging holes!! PLEASE NOTE THAT NO GLASS MAYBE USED ON THE GRAVES. Try sticking a flat head screw or nail on the base to anchor them down.
Thank you for offering to help. Let's make this happen and remember all those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can enjoy our Christmases.
CWGC have given us permission to do this as long as we tidy up afterwards. If you wish to place a light in a local Council owned cemetery, you will need to seek permission for this.
If you are not sure where your local CWG Cemetery is, you can check on their website or download the app.
Let's light up the country in Remembrance of those who gave so much.