by Lynn Cox

Hundreds of people turned out to see the parade in Rochester today to mark Armed Forces Day.

The streets were brimming with people cheering on the procession, which was led the Band of HM Royal Marines.

Hundreds of veterans, cadets, and other Armed Forces personnel including members of the Royal Engineers and the Royal Naval Reserve marched along the historic town’s High Street.

Veterans played a key part in the march, when they lifted their standards of their associations during the parade.

The procession started off in the morning from Crow Lane, and ended with a drumhead service in the Castle Gardens.

Dignitaries, including Medway’s MPs, the Mayor and Mayoress of Medway, Cllr Ted Baker and his wife Sylvia, The Lord Lieutenant of Kent, Alan Willett, and Medway councillors stood at the war memorial in the High Street to watch the parade pass.

They, along with the cheering crowds, clapped continuously as the procession marched passed them, before it made its way onto Boley Hill.

The drumhead service was led by the Rev Paul Kerr from St Justus Church, Rochester, who is also a fellow veteran, while the music was played by the Royal Marines Band.

Tourist attraction Diggerland at Medway Valley Park, Cuxton, also marked the annual event by giving out more than £35,000 of tickets to members of the armed services so they could enjoy a free day out.

Elsewhere at The Historic Dockyard, in Chatham, free entry was given veterans, current service personnel and former dockyard workers, who wanted to go along to mark the day.

Later in the evening the site hosted the traditional Beat Retreat and Ceremonial Sunset event, which featured the Royal Marines Band, the Marching Band of the Duke of York’s Royal Military School and the Rochester Pipe Band.

The event, which was raising money for the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust, brought Armed Forces Day in Medway to a close.