Remembrance tributes paid to fallen across West

Communities across the West have come together to mark Remembrance Sunday.

In the lead-up to the weekend, people shared memories of those who served, highlighted relatives whose lives were shaped by war and held fundraisers to support veterans.

Peter Caddick-Adams, a historian and academic who specialises in military history, was asked by Radio Bristol earlier why Remembrance still played such an important part in national life.

He said: "We understand the big history of war through examining the sacrifice of individual people and through our own ancestors."

BBC Radio Wiltshire's Sophie Parker was stationed outside the Civic Centre in Tidworth.

"It's often known as the home of the British Army," she said. "It is a town of military and civilian life."

Almost every lamppost was adorned with a poppy ahead of a Remembrance parade through the garrison town.

Veterans Kev Minto and Dave Musgrove were among those who gathered to pay their respects.

"When you serve with people and you lose people, it's good to remember," said Minto.

Musgrove added: "We've lost a lot of guys in recent years that we served with. We see it on Facebook all the time.

"There are a lot of people we will be remembering."

In Swindon, hundreds of people gathered at the Cenotaph in Regent Circus where they were joined by the Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire and the Mayor of Swindon.

Bugler Steve Yorke signalled the start of a two-minute silence by playing The Last Post.

BBC Radio Gloucestershire's Annabelle Martin observed a parade which started at Cinderford's town council offices and led down towards the Triangle.

"It looks amazing," she said. "And everyone is here - school kids, families, even dogs with their poppies looking so smart."

Mark Evans, chairman of Cinderford RBL branch, spent 10 years in the military.

"Remembrance means different things to every person," he said. "Some are remembering families, some are remembering those currently serving, some are supporting veterans."

Police were also deployed to various services to pay tribute to the 21 Gloucestershire officers who lost their lives during both world wars.

Erin Santillo, from BBC Radio Somerset, went to Taunton to see how the town marked Remembrance.

It was a foggy morning but that "didn't put off what must be a couple of hundred people" who lined the streets, he said.

Guides, Scouts and cadets made up the Remembrance march through Taunton which took place after the two-minute silence.

Royal Marines padre, the Reverend Stuart Rason, was also in attendance.

"It [Remembrance] is an active term," he said. "It's not something which is passive.

"By participating, you become part of that story... and you pass it on to a new generation."

In Saltford, a service was live-streamed in the church hall and local Scouts and Guides took part in a parade.

In Bath, there was a wreath-laying ceremony at Royal Victoria Park War Memorial before a Remembrance Parade through the city centre.

At 10:25 GMT, 7 Military Intelligence Battalion led military units, cadets, veterans and related groups from College Green to the Cenotaph in Bristol.

The Act of Remembrance began at 10:58 GMT, with the two-minute silence marked by a bugler playing The Last Post.

Martin Evans, from BBC Radio Bristol, said "an air of mist" outside the Cenotaph began to "lift gradually" ahead of Remembrance commemorations, with more than 100 families in attendance.

"It's generations all gathering together," he said.

An atmospheric service also took place through Yatton, where several local schoolchildren took part in a Remembrance march, and in Westbury-St-Trym where huge crowds gathered.

Additional reporting by Sophie Parker in Tidworth, Annabelle Martin in Cinderford, Erin Santillo in Taunton, Martin Evans in Bristol, Alice Bouverie in Westbury on Trym and Tamsin Curnow in Yatton.

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