GENERATIONS came together at Broughton House Veteran Care Village in Salford on Remembrance Day to pay tribute to fallen servicemen and women, current veterans and those still serving in the armed forces.
The ceremony was attended by residents, staff, relatives, supporters, community representatives and pupils from nearby St Philip’s RC Primary School.
D-Day veteran Peter Belcher, 101, was among the residents who took part in the service. Peter, who was a sergeant in the Parachute Regiment during World War Two, read the Lord’s Prayer.
Captain Bob McMillan, 93, who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, laid the wreath.
Major Andy Dinning, 81, who served as a commando with the Royal Marines, read the poem In Flanders Fields, and Major Mike Winstanley MBE, 78, who served with the Cheshire Regiment, read the Exhortation. Private Archie Scott, who served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, read The Kohima Epitaph.
Residents wore their Broughton House blazers, medals and berets for the ceremony.
The service also included the placing of five Lamplights of Peace from World War Two alongside an original lamplight from the 1916 Battle of the Somme.
The lamplights are traditional oil lanterns which represent the ‘lights of peace’ that emerged from the darkness of war, and honour the ultimate sacrifice by the people who served in the first and second world wars.
Outdoor events company Challenge the Wild is the custodian of the lamplights. Its founder Dan Searson, a former captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps, led the service at Broughton House.