Parade proudly marks WW2 battles when Britain was ‘right up against it’

Around 100 cadets, veterans, and serving armed forces personnel attended the service which included a roll of honour naming the men from the county who died invading Normandy.

Crowds gathered to enjoy the ceremony and pay their respects in solemn tribute to Britain’s war dead.

Col James Gunn OBE TD DL, aged 98 from Epperstone, was given a front-row seat in honour of his service during the Second World War.

“By the time D-Day came, I was training to be a Gunner in Kent,” he said.

“I remember seeing a lot of planes heading south.”

“It was the culmination of some terrible times. The country was absolutely right up against it,” he said.

Col Gunn praised the role of the Empire, which included Canada, Australia, and India in helping Britain to stand against Nazi Germany.

“Nowadays you’re not allowed to talk nicely about the Empire, but without that, we would have been in real trouble.”

Later, Col Gunn was training to be an officer at the Mountain Artillery Training Centre in Ambala, India. By the time he was commissioned in the British Indian Army, the Americans dropped the Atomic bomb on Japan.

“It was all over suddenly,” he said.

The service, which used military drums as a makeshift altar, was officiated by Rev Paul Massey and Rev Mark Orr of the Nottinghamshire Army Cadet Force.

After the Act of Remembrance, The South Notts Hussars Association band played the Last Post and National Anthem.

The parade brought the armed forces and public together in an important way, according to the Lord-Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire, Veronica Pickering, the King’s representative in the county.

She said: “They don’t get very many opportunities to see the armed forces. This is a way of building bridges and building up family and community strength, but also educating the young.”

Cadets joined the Lord-Leiutenant for the parade, including Daniel Hanson of the Combined County Forces. The 18-year-old said: “It’s certainly an honour to have been selected for this position.”

“As such I get to do things like this which are always fun and important for showing Remembrance for the people that came before us and we have lost.”

Watching from the side, Peter Dowse, from The Meadows aged 75, said coming to the service was the “right thing to do”.

“Men and women laid down their lives for how we can live today.”

Kerry Cohen, from Nottingham aged 49, who served in the Royal Logistics Corps for 12 years said: “It’s very poignant to me because I lost a very close friend in Iraq.”

The mum was at the parade watching her cadet daughter alongside their family.

“It’s about the people that’s been lost. I get really upset,” she said. “I want my children to remember.”