Silent tribute

And the Faithful City fell silent as a single gunshot echoed across the flooded River Severn yesterday, to mark the first Remembrance Sunday of the millennium.

Two minutes later, another gunshot fired by members of the 214 Worcester Battery of the Royal Artillery broke the traditional silence for the prayers to begin.

Old soldiers and members of the Royal British Legion wore their medals proudly as they sat alongside today's military personnel.

Worcester MP Mike Foster, Hereford & Worcester Fire Brigade, Air Training Corps, Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters Regiment, Sea Scouts and Guides also joined city dignitaries at the hour-long service.

Uniformed serving officers sat among the congregation with their families to pay homage to those who had gone before them.

For the first time, the Worcester branch of the disbanded 1940 Dunkirk Veterans' Association was missing from the official line-up, although surviving members did attend.

The Dean, the Very Rev Peter Marshall told the packed Cathedral that education was the key to lasting peace.

And he urged parents to teach the younger generations about the horrors of war so the same tragedies would never happen again.

"If our children and young people are to find a way of understanding the sacrifice, the horror and the suffering, they must be taught to find peace," he said in his sermon.

"But true peace will not be found through our human capacity alone. It has to be found by turning humanity's attention to God."

Prayers were offered by members of the Council of Churches for the "sacrifices made, especially in the two world wars, whereby our peace has been preserved", for those serving in the Armed Forces and for those still suffering physically and mentally as a result of war.

After the service, wreaths were laid before a parade of veterans marched along Worcester's High Street.

The St John's area of the city was also brought to a standstill when the St John's & Hallow branch of the Royal British Legion led a 200-strong parade.

An 11th-hour decision by the police and city council allowed the parade - called off last week - to go ahead.

WREATHS paying private tribute to fathers and friends who fell in the Second World War were laid alongside the Faithful City's official memorials.

Worcester Mayor, Councillor Mary Drinkwater, the Army, Navy and Air Force, British Red Cross and St John Ambulance were among those who offered their thanks for the service given by the city's soldiers, sailors and airmen in conflicts across the world.

The Worcester branch of the Royal British Legion wrote: "Thinking of all our comrades who have given their lives for us - we will always remember them".

City MP Mike Foster wrote simply, "Lest We Forget" on the wreath he laid after yesterday's Cathedral service.

These lay side-by-side with private tributes to a Pte James Turner, of the Worcestershire Regiment, who died in 1943, reading, "Rest in Peace".

Another, to Cpl Reg Roberts, who served in the RASC, read: "Precious memories of a dear dad who died while fighting for this country, always in our hearts and thoughts".

Simple crosses bearing a single poppy were pushed into the ground in the shadow of the Boer War memorial.

"The atmosphere outside was very good," said Desmond Church, who served with the Royal Engineers in Palestine.

The 72-year-old, of St Peter's, Worcester, stood in a 200-strong crowd outside the Cathedral.

AN old soldier who won the George Cross for gallantry in the Second World War was part of the city's 100-strong Royal British Legion parade.

Albert Price laid the Royal British Legion wreath on the War Memorial outside the Cathedral before joining fellow veterans and new cadets in the march.

Mr Price, in his 90s, now lives in Worcester Christian Nursing Home, off London Road.

"I had to hold his hand as he laid our wreath because he's very frail," said John Hewlett, chairman of the Worcester branch.

Mr Hewlett said he had been asked to speak to youngsters at a nursery in Eckington about his experiences in the war.

The invitation came after the Dean of Worcester, the Very Rev Peter Marshall, urged yesterday's congregation to promote peace by educating younger generations about the horrors of war.

"They've asked me to show the children my medals, which I'm only too proud to," said Mr Hewlett.

A DUNKIRK veteran has faced his first Remembrance Day service without an official role to play.

The Worcester branch of the 1940s Dunkirk Veterans' Association has played an active part in the Cathedral's Remembrance Day service since the group presented its standard to the then archdeacon in 1972.

But this June, on the advice of its national headquarters, the division made its last pilgrimage to Dunkirk before disbanding.

Veteran Clifford Willis, who attended yesterday's hour-long service and then paid tribute to his fallen comrades at the War Memorial outside the Cathedral, said the age of many of its members had forced the move.

"It was odd not to be able to go as a complete body," said the 80-year-old. "But all the boys are getting into their 80s now. The service was very moving, as always."

The association has returned its standard to the Dean of Worcester for safe-keeping.