Colchester marks Remembrance Sunday

In solemn silence, soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Colchester to mark Remembrance Sunday and 100 years since the end of the First World War today (11 November).

Troops joined civic dignitaries, veterans and cadets and thousands of residents for a Remembrance service and silence at Colchester's War Memorial. The Band of The Parachute Regiment played and a 105mm Light Gun from 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery fired to mark the beginning and end of the two minute silence at 11am – the moment the guns stopped firing in 1918.

After the service, 180 soldiers from the town’s 16 Air Assault Brigade, 156 Provost Company Royal Military Police and reservists of 161 Medical Squadron, 254 Medical Regiment marched through the town centre alongside veterans and youth organisations. The soldiers, based at the town’s Merville Barracks, were headed up by Brigadier Nick Perry DSO MBE, Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Caldwell, Commander of Colchester Garrison.

Lt Col Caldwell said: “It has been a huge privilege to join with the people of Colchester to mark Remembrance Sunday, on what is a particularly poignant occasion as we mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. The Armed Forces are drawn from the civilian community and it is important that we stand together to show our respect for the men and women who have given their lives for others, and remember their families and all those who have been injured and still bear the scars of war. The people of Colchester are here in their thousands and I’m particularly pleased to see so many children, which shows that the torch of remembrance is being passed on to the next generation. ”