A HOST of Remembrance events will be held across Thurrock as the community marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War - Armistice Day.
Remembrance ceremonies will be held at all the borough’s war memorials, while beacons are set to be lit in Purfleet and at Coalhouse Fort.
In preparation for these events 834 poppies, one for each brave serviceman who lost their life in the war, will be displayed in Thurrock.
All war memorials have undergone specialist cleaning and maintenance.
Special commemorative planters have been installed at war memorials.
Silent Soldier silhouettes will be on display at war memorials, and in Thurrock Council cemeteries, and Thurrock Council has helped communities to restore the beacons at Coalhouse Fort and Purfleet.
The two beacons are part of Battle’s Over, a national event where more than 1,300 beacons around the country are being lit to commemorate the centenary.
Purfleet-on-Thames Community Forum were asked by the council to arrange an event to mark this historic occasion.
Ensign Bus will bring their newly acquired replica of a B Type bus which will provide a backdrop for Tilbury Band and a stage for their bugler who will play the Last Post and Reveille from on high.
The forum were awarded funding from a Thurrock Council grant to make the Purfleet beacon fit for the next 30 to 40 years.
John Southgate and Mark Southgate represented Chadwell St Mary Royal British Legion as Standard Bearers in Ypres, Belgium, marking decades of pilgrimages.
Rob Gledhill, leader of Thurrock Council, said: “We in Thurrock will join a grateful nation as we hold a series of events to remember the sacrifices a generation made in the Great War, especially those made by the 834 young men from Thurrock who gave their lives’ in service to their country.”
The Battle’s Over event in Purfleet will kick off at 5pm on Sunday at the Purfleet Heritage and Military Centre.
There will be no shortage of events taking place across Thurrock.
They include:
Saturday, 10.45am, War Memorial opposite Whitmore Arms, Orsett
9am, War Memorial on the wall of St Mary’s Church, Corringham
9.30am, War memorial, Rectory Road, Little Thurrock
9.45am, Purfleet Heritage Centre, Centurion Way, then on to St Stephen’s Church
9.45am, St Mary-the-Virgin Church, Church Road, Bulphan
10.30am, St Nicholas Church, The Green, South Ockendon
10.30am, War Memorial by St Margaret’s Parish Church, Stanford-le-Hope
10.30am, War Memorial Civic Square, Tilbury
10.45am, Central Atrium, Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock
10.45am, War Memorial, High Street, Grays
10.45am, Ardale War Memorial, Guardian Avenue, Stifford Green
10.50am, St Mary’s Church, Lindford Road, Chadwell St Mary
10.50am, Bata War Memorial, East Tilbury
10.50am, St Peter and St Paul Church, Orsett Road, Horndon on the Hill
10.50am, War memorial, High Road, North Stifford
3pm, War Memorial, Kershaw Close, Chafford Hundred
4pm, War Memorial at St Michael’s Church, Fobbing
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