Remembrance Sunday is always an emotional day, but this year carried additional poignancy following the recent deaths of British soldiers in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, at the War Memorial in the Carfax, the sacrifice made by those serving our country was there for all to see.
Four year oldJessie May Cassidy laid a wreath at the memorial, on behalf of her father Frank who is currently on his third campaign in Afghanistan.
Thousands turned out to see an estimated 500 people take part in a parade and service in the town centre on Sunday, and as it always is, the two minutes silence at 11am, in memory of the fallen, was impeccably observed.
Taking part in the parade behind the band and Royal British Legion standard bearers were cadets, St John’s Ambulance, representatives of the Armed Forces, St John’s Ambulance, and hundreds of young people involved in Scouts, Cubs, Beavers, Guides and Brownies.
The Chairman of Horsham District Council, Cllr Keith Wilkins, led the wreath laying on behalf of the people of the Horsham District.
He was followed by Gerry Harris, Chairman of the Royal British Legion Horsham Branch, and then by The Rt. Hon Francis Maude MP.
A church service followed at the Parish Church of St. Mary The Virgin in the Causeway.
Dianne Loates, Secretary of the Horsham RBL, said: “It’s been an amazing year for us this year. We’ve already raised more than £15,000. I think that perhaps when we are at war the day has even more importance - people start to think about who we are and what we might be losing or gaining.
“The parade couldn’t have gone better. We probably had between two and three thousand people in the town, and when the little girl was laying the wreath there was not a dry eye in the house.”
With the help of local businesses including Crickmays and Saxon Weald, The Poppy Shop in South Street, Horsham, has been an enormous success.
It is open until 16th November.
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