THOUSANDS poured into Trowbridge on Saturday to honour soldiers past and present as part of the Armed Forces Weekend.

A heaving Trowbridge Park hosted the special occasion, which got underway courtesy of The Southern Jacobites at the band stand in the top field at 10am.

There was a full programme of free events including a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire Flypast and a heavy-lift Chinook helicopter and on the ground there skirmishes, bomb disposal displays and much more.

Many attendees travelled from across the county but you would be hard pressed to find anyone who had made a longer journey than Sandy McCraken, 72, from Canada.

She was lucky enough to sit in a Spitfire plane, many of which were made in the county town, more than 70 years after her father Bob McCraken flew one during the Second World War.

"It is just amazing to be here. I am so excited to sit in that wonderful machine just as my father did," said Mrs McCraken, who is staying with friends in Southwick until Monday.

"My father was in the Canadian Airforce and was shot down in 1945 by the Germans. He was at the Stalag Luft 1 prison of war camp which kept the captured soldiers there for three more days as the Russians were late in turning up!

"It is fantastic to see so many people salute the armed forces here today. We owe all of them so much for what they did for mankind. It has been so well put together and I will be back again tomorrow for sure."

On top of the military displays and living exhibitions, where people could get involved and look at old weapons and machinery, there was scores of stalls and activities for the family to enjoy.

Great Cheverell resident Liz Read and her daughters Josephine, 9, and Carolyn, 3, come from a family who have spent many years serving in the Royal Navy and they all thoroughly enjoyed their day out.

"The displays were really good. I really liked the First World War trenches. It is fun and you can learn about interesting things too," said Josephine.

Her mother added: "It is important to recognise something that is part of our heritage. Everything is brought to life very well with the living history stuff. It is a lovely day out."

For the last 20 years, author and historian Richard Broadhead has carried out extensive research into Wiltshire soldiers during the First and Second World War and his contribution to the day was laying out head-shots of Trowbridge soldiers who had died in battle in 1917.

"By having names and faces for people to see, it brings it all to life. People have come up to me commenting that a certain soldier looks like someone they know or that name is familiar, it is lovely," he said.

Air Commodore Martin Clark, who spent 37 years in the military before retiring in December, was enjoying his time helping out at the event, which made a change from being part of it.

"A lot of people have come up to me saying, 'Why are you not in uniform, I didn't recognise you', which made me chuckle," he said.

"I am enjoying helping out with the VIP's and seeing just how many youngsters are here. It is great that the younger generation are understanding the importance of the armed forces and what they did for us all."

Tomorrow, more exciting events are taking place such as another skirmish on the bottom field, a parade of servicemen and woman will go through the town centre and there will be more flypasts and displays too.