Heroes remembered throughout Suffolk

IT WAS a service of great dignity and of poignancy as hundreds gathered in Christchurch Park to remember the soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

Not even the driving rain could dim the pomp and ceremony and the pride that was felt of those who had died so we could live the way we do today.

Dignitaries, members of the military, ex-servicemen and councillors all attended the Remembrance Sunday parade in the Ipswich park arranged by Ipswich Branch Royal British Legion.

Remembrance services were also taking place across the county including a parade in Hadleigh and a service on Market Hill in Woodbridge.

In Felixstowe servicemen and women also gathered at the war memorial to remember the dead in the many wars that took place in the last century.

With Britain once more teetering on the edge of war with Iraq, this year's Remembrance Sunday proved a timely reminder of what has gone before.

In Christchurch Park at the Cenotaph as heads bowed in a two-minute silence, the only sound was the pattering of the rain off the trees.

Hundreds attended this year and the service was still as emotional as ever, a sea of sombre faces including many young people who had gone along to pay their respects.

Wreaths were laid by many organisations including the Ipswich Branch Royal British Legion, 4 regiment Army Air Corps, the Far East Prisoners of War, Suffolk Fire Service and the Army Cadets.

There were also some organisations who had laid wreaths for the first time this year including the Merchant Navy, the Normandy Veterans Association and the Caribbean Association.

Mayor Richard Risebrow and his deputy Maureen Carrington-Brown were also in attendance in full robes and were the first to lay wreaths.

Others came from Suffolk County Council, the HMS Grafton and a wreath was laid on behalf of the people of Ipswich by Suffolk Constabulary.