Scores of residents, staff, and supporters turned out to pay tribute to fallen servicemen and women at a Remembrance Day ceremony at Broughton House Veteran Care Village in Salford.
A 100-year-old D-Day paratrooper was among the residents who led the poignant service in the grounds of the care home. Peter Belcher, a sergeant in the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War, read the Lord’s Prayer and the Kohima Epitaph during the moving ceremony.
Other service veterans taking part were Major Andrew Dinning, who served as a commando with the Royal Marines, Captain Robert McMillan, who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, and Lt Sandy MacDonald, who served in the Royal Artillery. Major Dinning read the poem In Flanders Fields, Capt McMillan laid the wreath and Lt MacDonald read the Exhortation.
Residents wore their Broughton House blazers and medals for the service, which was also attended by military personnel. The ceremony also featured the lighting of Lamp Lights of Peace from the first and second world wars.
These are traditional oil lanterns, ruby red in colour, which represent the ‘lights of peace’ which emerged from the darkness of war and honour the ultimate sacrifice by the men and women who served in the conflicts.
The ceremony also featured a bugler playing Reveille and The Last Post, as well as a two-minute silence. Afterwards, children from St Philip’s Primary School in Salford sang hymns for the guests in the Veterans’ Mess at Broughton House.
Karen Miller, chief executive of Broughton House, said: “The service marks an important occasion for our residents to remember their fallen colleagues and the sacrifices made by all service personnel. It’s really important for future generations to appreciate what they went through in order to defend our country and our freedoms.”
