Bedworth's Armistice Day 2022 hailed the 'largest and finest' in the UK

[dutchman]

Thousands turned out for the event that makes Bedworth the town that never forgets



Bedworth's proud Armistice Day 2022 has been hailed the 'largest and finest' in the UK. Thousands crammed into the town centre streets to listen to the service in Coventry Road cemetery.

They stood that little bit taller when Bedworth Reverend David Poultney opened the service by saying Bedworth had the 'longest and finest' Armistice Day in the country. They, the people of the town and the many who travel from across the country, have and continue to play their part in Bedworth's proudest boast - that it is the town that never forgets.

It is the only place that has, bar two years, marked the day when guns were silenced at the end of World War One - Armistice Day - every year. From school children waving flags to older generations remembering silently, people stood three or four deep behind barriers across the town to pay their respects.

As usual, they greeted the parade with respectful applause. The sound rippled through the town centre, carried by a strong breeze, as veterans and cadets made their way to the cemetery.

Intermingled with the sound of the military bands was the quiet but precious clinking of medals worn proudly by the humble but brave men who earned them as well as relatives of those who have since passed. They took their place in the cemetery, some in wheelchairs while others stood shoulder to shoulder with civic dignitaries.

They all turned their eyes to the skies for the famed poppy drop as an Auster J1N plane sprayed red poppies over the town. For those who missed the spectacle, the armistice committee, for the first time, arranged for special poppy cannons to go off as the parade took the salute at the Peace Podium on Rye Piece Ringway, following the service.

As they went off with a bang, showering hundreds of scarlet poppies into the air, the crowds applauded and cheered. The parade continued around to the Almshouses where a bugle sounded the fallout.

Just like the poppies that fell on the town, the crowds then scattered but they did so knowing that they had played their part in ensuring that the town's proud tradition had been upheld for another year. For more photographs of today's event, see a special feature in the Nuneaton News out on Wednesday, November 16.