1000s flock to Service Day
Thousands of people flocked to Staffordshire's National Memorial Arboretum for National Service Day, although some other services, including that at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton, were called off due to bad weather.
Ex-service personnel, families and service personnel from across the country were at the annual service and reunion at the arboretum, in Alrewas, near Lichfield.
A ceremony was conducted yesterday by Commander (Ret'd) David Childs, the founder of the arboretum, in the presence of Field Marshal, the Lord Vincent of Coleshill, during which the Last Post was played and wreaths laid.
After the service there was a march past, accompanied by the Light Cavalry Band.
Organiser and ex-national serviceman Gerald Rose said: "We had so many there, about 3,000 and it stopped raining and the sun came out for the parade.
"This is one of the biggest events in the calendar at the arboretum and it is vitally important to us that it takes place each year.
"Most of the ex-national servicemen are in their 70s now – but it is important that the sacrifices that were made are remembered.
"We are especially keen to get youngsters along – to learn about what happened in the war.
"We had Gurkha pipers here from Stafford which was very special and it was good for all the ex-national servicemen to get together like this in such a wonderful place. We had coachloads of ex-servicemen visited from all over the country – including Blackpool and Crewe, as well as other parts of the Black Country and West Midlands.
"I will start planning next years event today and am hoping to talk to someone from the RAF so that next year we will have a fly past."
The National Service Veterans Association was set up in 2000, and in 2003 a memorial to fallen national service personnel was commissioned and dedicated, and now stands in its own landscaped plot at the arboretum. The last Sunday in June is officially recognised as National Service Day.
