SIXTY-five people attended a First World War commemoration event at the Down Cemetery in Trowbridge on Saturday, November 3 to pay tribute to the fallen buried and remembered in the graveyard.

The event was organised by The Friends of the Down Cemetery and was attended by Trowbridge Mayor Cllr Dennis Drewett; Roy Zaman, Chairman of Trowbridge Royal British Legion; Neil Ashley and cadets from C(Arakan) Company.

During the hour-long proceedings, six students from Clarendon Academy read poems from WWI war poets, including The Trumpet by Edward Thomas while serving at Trowbridge Barracks, in the Conformist Chapel.

A guided walk, led by Robert Wall, chair of the Friends, was held around the cemetery highlighting some of those buried in the grounds, with speeches written by Dom McDonald and, after a minutes’ silence, the Last Post was sounded, played by bugler Martin Holliss.

Mr Wall said: “Accompanying the event was a display of information on those buried in the grounds, prepared and researched by Rosemary Hawkes, with an opportunity to share tea and cake and chat after the event.

“Adding atmosphere to the day were three ‘There But Not There’ silhouettes that had been granted to the Friends from the charity The Covenant Fund Trust and the There But Not There programme.

“These transparent seated military figures were placed amongst the guests in the chapel adding a poignant tribute in memory of all those affected in the First World War.”