The Chair of Sidmouth Town Council, Councillor Hilary Nelson is inviting veterans, serving armed forces and youth service groups to take part in the annual Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service of Remembrance which is a national opportunity to remember the service and sacrifice of all those that have defended our freedoms and protected our way of life. This year, Remembrance Sunday is on Sunday 8th November.
Standard bearers and marching detachments should muster at 10.10 a.m. from the top of the town at Co-Op. The parade will march off at 10.30 a.m. proceeding to the Parish Church where a short service of remembrance and two minutes silence will be held around the War Memorial. Those who wish to take part but are unable to parade, are asked to assemble directly at the War Memorial.
Organisations laying a wreath, should contact the Town Clerk no later than 9am on Monday 2 November by emailing reception@sidmouth.gov.uk in order to be listed in the Order of Service.
Similar events will be taking place at Sidbury and Salcombe Regis.
The Council also invites residents and visitors to take part in the Armistice Day national two minutes silence on Wednesday 11th November at 11am. The Armistice which was an agreement to end the fighting of the First World War, began at 11am on 11th November 1918. To this day we continue to mark Armistice Day around the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth and the world. On the 11th November, there will be a short procession starting at the Market Place at approximately 10.50am consisting of standards, veterans and service personnel for those organisations wishing to take part. The group will process to the War Memorial for a short service and the two minutes silence which will be marked at the start and end by the firing of two maroons from the Church tower.
The Chair of the Town Council, Councillor Hilary Nelson commented “It is so important, particularly in these changing times, that all generations remember and honour the memory of those who served and sacrificed for our country both in the World Wars and more recent conflicts.”