North Herts and Stevenage remembered the fallen of the two world wars and other conflicts on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday over the weekend.
Armistice Day this year marked 99 years since the 1918 truce that turned out to be the end of hostilities during the First World War.
In Hitchin, Canon Michael Roden led the Royal British Legion’s Remembrance service at 2.30pm at St Mary’s Church, after a parade through the town from Grammar School Walk.
Dr Iqbal Hussein, from the National Archives, gave a talk focusing on the Commonwealth contribution to the Allied war efforts.
A ceremony was also held at St Faith’s Church, off Woolgrove Road, on Sunday morning.
In Stevenage dignitaries gathered in Town Square for a Saturday service before a two-minute silence at 11am, while hundreds lined the streets for a parade in the Old Town on Remembrance Sunday.
Representatives from the armed forces, emergency services and youth associations turned out in force as the parade marched down High Street to the Bowling Green war memorial.
A service was then led by the Longmeadown Evangelical Church before wreaths were laid by dignitaries, those who took part in the parade, Stevenage schools, community groups and members of the public.
Richard Mott from the Royal British Legion’s Stevenage branch told the Comet that he was “really pleased” with the attendance, believed to be up to 3,500 – with young and old alike turning out.
In Letchworth, a Remembrance Sunday service saw the public come out for the laying of wreaths and a two-minute silence. At the end of the ceremony a parade proceeded to St Michael’s Church for a 11.30am service.
The standard bearer for the Royal British Legion’s Baldock branch, Al Hayhurst, represented Hertfordshire at the Festival of Remembrance on Saturday at the Royal Albert Hall.
On Sunday, youth groups marched, and music was played by Knights Templar students before the reading of names of those who had fallen, the laying of wreaths and a two-minute silence at the town’s war memorial.
A Legion spokesman said: “Thank you to the people of Baldock for your continued support at our Remembrance Sunday parade. Once again you turned out in your hundreds to pay your respects.”
Similar services were held in nearby villages and across Central Bedfordshire.
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