The First World War began 100 years ago and left an entire generation devastated. Reporter HELOISE WOOD finds out how people in Bexley and north Kent can pay their respects to those lost in the Great War and other conflicts since.
The area is set to mark Remembrance Sunday with a list of events ranging from traditional services to choirs and flash mobs.
A garden of remembrance is open at Christ Church in Bexleyheath Broadway for people to place crosses for family members who died in the First World War.
The Royal British Legion Bexleyheath and Welling Branch have also placed crosses naming local servicemen who lost their lives in the First World War to the present day.
Residents are invited to join the Oaklands Road War Memorial in Bexleyheath at 11am where there will be a parade and wreath laying by the Bexleyheath and Welling Branch of the Royal British Legion.
On November 9 there will also be a service at 10am at St Paulinus Church of England Church in Perry Street, Crayford.
Dartford’s Remembrance Day Service takes place on November 9 starting at 10.45am with a procession from Dartford Museum in Market Street to the War Memorial.
There will be a wreath laying followed by a two-minute silence. After the service a parade by members of local uniformed organisations will take place.
Bluewater shopping centre was transformed into poppy-filled cliffs on October 27 as part of the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal with a flash mob, a parade and a performance from The Military Wives Choir.
A parade of 150 people including veterans, local politicians, standard bearers, serving personnel, reserves, cadets, Scouts and Brownies joined the Royal British Legion in a procession around the outside of the centre.
Shoppers were delighted by a surprise flash mob devised and performed by Margate community dance group, Jestress Flo, telling the story of a young girl and her journey through the war and later life through dance.
Gareth Malone’s Military Wives Choir, from Brompton Barracks in Chatham, performed in Bluewater’s Plaza before the Royal British Legion led a spoken tribute and minute’s silence.
People can also find out about the significant role Dartford played during the war by visiting the museum in Market Street. For example, the first aircraft to chase off a German plane during the war came from Joyce Green aerodrome and it was a Dartford gun crew which was the first to shoot down a Zeppelin airship over Britain.
The First Welling Scout Group are holding a service on Sunday November 9 from 10.30 in Bexley Woods, Camden Road entrance, at a tree dedicated to former Scoutmaster of the 1st Welling Troop of Boy Scouts Raymond Storer (above). He died aged 21 in the First World War. Email mike.ritte@btinternet.com for more information
Bexleyheath and Crayford Waterside Women’s Institute is marking one hundred years since the formation of the Women’s Institute in 1915 by planting one hundred daffodils in the gardens of Hall Place in Bourne Road, Bexley.
Send your pictures of the remembrance events this weekend to hwood@london.newsquest.co.uk
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