The thousands of names on the naval memorial at the Great Lines were honoured by servicemen past and present yesterday.

Veterans, cadets, members of the Armed Forces and the public attended the service at the vast memorial to remember those who gave their lives for their country.

Valerie Dobson, who came to the service to remember her late husband, added: "It makes us realise what they went through and without all these people we wouldn’t be here now if they hadn’t fought for us and we must never forget that."

The Mayor of Medway, Cllr Ted Baker, attended the service and laid a wreath at the memorial before going to Rochester Cathedral to join a remembrance parade and lay a wreath at the Rochester War Memorial.

Wreaths were also laid at the Black Lion War Memorial, Rainham War Memorial, Brompton War Memorial and a service was held at Victoria Gardens, Chatham.

On Friday the Towns fell silent at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in honour of our war dead.

At the war memorial outside St Margaret's Church in Rainham, tribute were led by the family of former Rainham Mark Grammar School pupil Capt Daniel Read who died in Helmand, Afghanistan last year.

His family admit that last year’s remembrance was a "blur" following his death as he attempted to diffuse a bomb as part of his work with the Royal Logistical Corps, so there was real significance this time around.

Capt Read’s sister Rebecca Huntingford addressed people present asking everyone to stand in silence to remember all of those who died and those who are still fighting. She then laid a wreath.

The officer’s family said that although it was a very sad occasion for them, they were honoured by the respect shown by local people.

His father Les Read said: "Even thought it was almost two years ago it is still very hard for us, but it’s nice to see people remember what our soldiers do.

"What my boy did wasn’t just for us; it was for people and children in Afghanistan."