KELLY WARINER

THE Trowbridge branch of the Royal British Legion have laid wooden crosses at a remembrance service at Trowbridge Cemetery.

The commemoration took place at 11am on Monday, September 19 and underlined the centenary of the Battle of the Somme.

It was organised in conjunction with a three-day re-enactment of the First World War, which raised awareness of the battle and taught groups of schoolchildren about living conditions during the war.

Rick Owen, Honorary Secretary of the Trowbridge Royal British Legion, said: “The wooden crosses were each personalised with Somme 100 logos.”

The crosses were escorted to the cemetery by Trowbridge resident Bob Conway, holder of the Legion d’Honneur, and distributed onto the graves of those who died in the war.

Mr Conway was one of six veterans from the former Wiltshire Branch of the Normandy Veterans Association to have been awarded the Legion d’Honneur for his actions during the liberation of France.

Mr Owen added: “Mr Conway has been to all Normandy landing events over the last two years and takes full part in all the commemorations.”

Also in attendance at the service were several ex-servicemen and members of the Royal Engineers Association and Royal Air Force Police Association.

The commemoration signalled the beginning of the branch’s Poppy Appeal fundraising period, in which they hope to raise even more than last year’s total of £40,000.

“To raise £40,000 just within the Trowbridge area was beyond our wildest dreams; our previous highest amount was £33,500 and this time we steam-rollered past this total, which was amazing," added Mr Owen.

“This was down to the generosity of the people of Trowbridge and the surrounding villages of Semington, Staverton, Hilperton, Wingfield, Southwick, North Bradley and West Ashton.”

This year’s Poppy Appeal runs from Saturday, October 29 to Saturday, November 12.

The legion is also seeking to raise £600 to pay for marker stones for the graves of two girls who were killed in a bombing raid in Trowbridge during 1942.

The project’s Just Giving page can be accessed through the Trowbridge Royal British Legion’s Facebook page.