We will remember them

Old soldiers marched, and those who could not march used sticks or wheelchairs.

The only foe that will ever get the better of those who saved their country from tyranny is the passage of time.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and the 50th of the outbreak of the Korean War.

In Swindon, a parade several hundred strong set out from the Granville Street carpark at 10.45am for the short march along Commercial Road to the Cenotaph in Regent Circus.

It was marshalled by Swindon Royal British Legion secretary and Normandy veteran Bill Boag-Munroe.

Led by white-gauntletted standard bearers, the parade kept perfect time with the music of the Swindon Royal British Legion Corps of Drums and Swindon Pegasus Brass Band.

Other organisations taking part in the parade included the emergency services, the RAF, the Air Training Corps and Territorial Army reservists from the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Squadron and the Royal Rifle Volunteers.

The public waited in their hundreds at the Cenotaph for the service to begin and stayed until the end when they applauded the parade as it marched away.

VIPs assembled there were led by the mayor, Arthur Archer.

Among them were council leader Sue Bates (Lab, Gorse Hill and Pinehurst), Conservative Group Leader Mike Bawden (Old Town and Lawns) and his LibDem counterpart Mike Evemy (Eastcott).

Also present were Julia Drown and Michael Wills, MPs for South and North Swindon respectively, and clergy from several faiths, including the Bishop of Swindon, the Rt Rev Michael Doe.

After an opening prayer from Father Liam Slattery of St Mary's Parish Church, two minutes silence was heralded by bugler Francis Cowley, who played the last post.

During those two minutes, the only sound audible on the winter air was the distant barking of a dog.

Harry Feltham, President of Swindon Royal British Legion, then read the Exhortation, the words forever associated with Remembrance Sunday: "They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning. We will remember them."

Old soldiers present included paratrooper Douglas Payne, 80, from Rodbourne Cheney, a Dunkirk veteran who lost an eye at Arnhem and spent his 23rd birthday in the sea after his glider was shot down during the battle for Sicily in 1943.

He said: "It is important to keep memories alive if we forget war it will happen again."

Fellow Arnhem veteran George "Jimmy" Durant, 78, from West Swindon, added: "As long as we can get here, we shall get here."

Similar ceremonies took place across the area, including one in Cricklade.

And yesterday afternoon at the Steam museum plaques honouring GWR war dead were rededicated in a special ceremony watched by the mayor.