Final preparations are under way for Remembrance services to honour those brave men and women who gave their lives while serving their country.
Commemorations are being held on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday and those expected to pull some of the largest crowds include one in Gravesend tomorrow (Friday).
The Pause to Remember service will take place in Community Square, Windmill Street and will start with a cannon fired to mark the start of two minutes’ silence.
2015: High Street, Dartford. Remembrance parade/service
Another cannon will then signify the end of the silence.
The service will be led by the Rev Canon Christopher Stone alongside the Mayor of Gravesham, Cllr Greta Goatley.
There will be music from the Salvation Army Band and the Port of London Authority Choir.
On Sunday, the Royal British Legion (RBL) Service of Remembrance will be at the war memorial in Windmill Gardens, Gravesend, from 10.45am.
The parade is due to leave Trinity Road at around 10.40am where a knitted carpet of poppies will be on display.
The mayor, Deputy Lieutenant Bhargawa Vasudaven, Adam Holloway MP and a representative from Gravesham council will attend. At the end, the mayor will take the salute at the march past from a dais at the eastern end of Clarence Place.
2015: Parade leaving from Trinity Road, service at Windmill Hill, Gravesend.
Refreshments are available after the service at the Veterans Hall in Clarence Place.
Dartford’s Sunday service will be held at the war memorial in Central Park.
It begins at 10.40am and is immediately followed by a march past from the High Street and along Market Street past the war memorial.
In Greenhithe tomorrow (Friday), there will be a service and silence at 11am in Bluewater, followed by unveiling of the new memorial outside the Greenhithe Royal British Legion, at 4pm, while on Sunday, a service will be held at the memorial, in London Road.
A number of smaller services are also taking place throughout the area.
They include:
Denton RBL Service of Remembrance, Denton war memorial tomorrow (Friday) at 1pm. The mayor will be attendance and all those attending should be at the memorial for 12.50pm.
RBL Service of Remembrance, war memorial, The Hill, Northfleet, on Sunday from 10.50am. The deputy mayor, Cllr Harold Craske, and Dep Lt Rosemary Dymond will attend this service conducted by the Rev Lawrence Smith, Vicar of St Botolph’s. Refreshments are available after in the church hall.
Bawley Bay Service of Remembrance for the Merchant Navy on Sunday at noon. There will be a display of art work from Wrotham Road Primary School and St John’s Comprehensive school in St Andrew’s Art Centre next door, based on the Merchant Navy.
Meopham RBL Service of Remembrance at Meopham war memorial in Wrotham Road, on Sunday at 3pm. Anyone wishing to attend should gather by 2.50pm. The mayor will be attending as will Dep Lt Bhargawa Vasudaven.
2015: Leslie Aris with grandaughter Eliza Connelly-Aris (16m). Parade leaving from Trinity Road, service at Windmill Hill, Gravesend.
The Stone Parish Remembrance Service and parade will take place on Sunday at Stone Recreation Ground. The parade starts at 2.45pm, followed by the Act of Remembrance at 3pm by the war memorial. The service will be conducted by Rev Kenneth Clark with readings by councillor Stephanie Thredgle and Steve Brindley from Crossways Church with music by the Gravesend Borough Band and St Mary’s Church Choir. Refreshments will be served after at Stone Pavilion.
St Mary’s Church in Mounts Road, Greenhithe, has a service at 10.30am on Sunday, to include a two-minute silence at 11am.
St Peter & St Paul’s Church in Swanscombe Street, has a service at 10am on Sunday with a two-minutes silence at 11am, the laying of wreaths at the memorial in Swanscombe Park and the laying of crosses at some of the graves in the cemetery.
The Swanley parade will take place at 2.30pm on Sunday from the town centre. Wreath laying will be at 2.45pm at the war memorial and then onto a church service at St Mary’s.
