On 9 November 2025, His Majesty’s Honorary Consul-General of the Kingdom of Tonga to the Portuguese Republic, Mr Anthony Bailey, joined fellow heads of diplomatic missions and representatives of the Armed Forces in paying tribute to the fallen at the annual Remembrance Sunday Service, organised by the Royal British Legion – Portugal and Atlantic Islands Branch, and held at St George’s Anglican Church, Lisbon.
Mr Bailey was invited to lay a wreath on behalf of the Kingdom of Tonga at the Memorial Cross in the historic British Cemetery, alongside the following Ambassadors and Heads of Mission: HE Ambassador Dr Helen Cheney (Australia), HE Ambassador Élise Racicot (Canada), HE Ambassador Puneet R. Kundal (India), HE Ambassador Alma Ní Choigligh (Ireland), HE Ambassador Maryna Mykhailenko (Ukraine), HE Ambassador John Joseph Arrigo (United States of America), and Ms Dorota Barys, Head of Mission (Poland).
Also participating were Chargé d’Affaires Mr Haruna Musa (Nigeria), Chargé d’Affaires Mr Carl Le Roux (South Africa), and Deputy Head of Mission Mr Nigel Boud (United Kingdom), together with other distinguished representatives of Allied and Commonwealth nations.
The service was led by the Revs Beth Bendrey and Iain Bendrey (Anglican Chaplaincy of St George, Lisbon, and St Paul, Estoril), together with the Very Rev Dr Angus Morrison (Church of Scotland, St Andrew’s Church, Lisbon). The sermon was delivered by the Rev Daleen Bakker, with music provided by Dr David Cranmer on organ and a bugler from the Exército Português (Portuguese Army). The Lisbon community choir, The Estoril Singers, performed the anthem “They Shall Grow Not Old” by Leslie Russell.
More than two hundred members of the diplomatic corps, armed services, veterans’ associations, schools, and the wider international community were present. The service featured the Exhortation read by Colonel Jonathan Dowd, the Last Post and Reveille, and hymns including “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”, “I Vow to Thee, My Country”, and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”.
The British Cemetery at St George’s, in Lisbon’s Estrela district, dates to 1724, making it one of the oldest Protestant burial grounds in continental Europe. The present St George’s Church, consecrated in 1889, houses memorials to British, Commonwealth, and Allied servicemen and women. Its granite War Memorial Cross and chapel commemorate those whose names appear on the Rolls of Honour, including those who served from Portugal in both world wars.
The Kingdom of Tonga, though geographically distant, has long contributed to global peace and security. During the First World War, Tongans volunteered within the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, while in the Second World War the Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939 and on Japan in 1941. In 1943, Tonga raised and trained a contingent of over 2,000 personnel who served with distinction in the Solomon Islands campaign.
In Nukuʻalofa, a parallel Service of Remembrance was held at the national cenotaph, bringing together Their Majesties King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipauʻu, members of the Royal Family, representatives of the Government, the Tonga Defence Services, the Tonga Police and the diplomatic corps. Following prayers and the reading of the Roll of Honour, wreaths were laid at the foot of the monument, accompanied by the Last Post and a minute’s silence observed across Pangai Siʻi in tribute to all Tongans who gave their lives in the service of the Crown and the defence of freedom.
Since 1945, Tonga has continued to uphold its commitment to international peacekeeping and security. Tongan troops participated in the South Pacific Peacekeeping Force in Bougainville (1994) and later deployed alongside allied partners in Iraq (2004–2005). The Tonga Defence Services maintain readiness for United Nations peacekeeping operations, with Tongan police and military personnel regularly completing UN pre-deployment training supported by regional partners. These missions demonstrate Tonga’s enduring belief in duty, service, and the defence of freedom.
The Kingdom’s principal monument of remembrance stands at Pangai Siʻi in Nukuʻalofa — a cenotaph and memorial complex commissioned in 1923 by HM Queen Sālote Tūpou III to honour those Tongans who served and died in the First World War. Later extended to commemorate the fallen of the Second World War and subsequent conflicts, it remains the focal point of national observances each year on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Sunday, symbolising Tonga’s enduring commitment to peace and sacrifice.
The Consulate-General of the Kingdom of Tonga in Portugal was officially established in Lisbon in 2022, strengthening the historic ties of friendship and cooperation between the Kingdom of Tonga and the Portuguese Republic.
The 2025 Service of Remembrance in Lisbon once again united representatives of many nations in solemn gratitude to those who gave their lives in the cause of peace — a moment of shared reflection, faith, and remembrance that endures across generations.
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