COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A parade will be led by the Lord Mayor after a thanks giving service



Servicemen and women will parade through Coventry as part of Armed Forces Day.

The national event on Saturday, June 25, will be marked in the city with several events.

Coventry City Council plans to mark the occasion with a service of thanksgiving at 2pm at Holy Trinity Church .

The service will be followed by a short parade, which will go around Broadgate with the Lord Mayor taking the salute.

Among those taking part in the parade will be the members of the Parachute Regiment, local army reserves, local cadets and members of the Royal British Legion.

Guests of honour will include the Vice Lord-Lieutenant and the High Sheriff of the West Midlands, together with the leader of the city council and city councillors.

Coun Lindsley Harvard, Coventry’s Lord Mayor, said: “I feel honoured to be part of the service that will show support and respect to the men and women who make up the armed forces community whether they are currently serving personnel, reserves or veterans and their families.”

Hundreds gather in Coventry City Centre to celebrate Armed Forces Day



Servicemen and women - both young and old - paraded through the streets of Coventry to mark Armed Forces Day.

Members of the Parachute Regiment, local army reserves, local cadets and members of the Royal British Legion paraded through the streets of Coventry as part of the national celebrations to show support for work of the men and women of the armed forces.

Shoppers and well wishers lined the streets, many waving Union Jack flags, to watch the marching troops, flanked by flag bearers and a military band.

Prior to the parade, a service of thanksgiving was held at around 2pm in Holy Trinity Church .

As the march finished, troops gather before saluting the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Coun Lindsley Harvard , in front of the statue of Lady Godiva.

The guests of honour at today’s event were the Vice Lord-Lieutenant and the High Sheriff of the West Midlands.

Coun Harvard previously told the Telegraph: “I feel honoured to be part of the service that will show support and respect to the men and women who make up the armed forces community whether they are currently serving personnel, reserves or veterans and their families.”

Elsewhere in the region, similar celebrations were taking place with Nuneaton holding the largest of Warwickshire’s celebrations in Gala Field .

Visitors were able to enjoy static military displays, a military band, fun fair rides and dozens of market stalls.

The celebration of the Armed Forces and its personnel of the past and present is especially poignant in 2016 as the nation commemorates the centenary of the World War One battles of Jutland and The Somme.