Goudhurst held a commemoration service to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War on Monday evening.

Around 200 people gathered around the village’s newly renovated War Memorial for a simple service, led by the Vicar of St Mary’s, the Rev Hugh

Nelson.

The names of sixty villagers who lost their lives in the conflict are recorded on the memorial and the descendants of 12 of the fallen plus local members of the Royal British Legion laid 60 poppy crosses in their memory.

At 11pm, all the lights in central Goudhurst were extinguished to mark two minutes’ silence and portraits of the dead servicemen were projected onto the wall of The Vine pub across the way from the memorial.

A bugler played the Last Post. The standard of the Royal British Legion was lowered and the ceremony ended with everyone singing the National Anthem.

The village is determined not to forget the sacrifices made and in the coming years, the memorial will be lit up on the anniversary of each soldier’s death, with their image projected onto the Vine.