City honours its fallen heroes

TIME stood still yesterday, at least for a brief period, as the people of Plymouth assembled on the Hoe, devoting time to Remembrance Sunday.

- MALCOLM BASSETT-SMITH

For the city, with its long military association with all three Armed Forces, the occasion is always extra meaningful.

Every one of the city’s graveyards contains evidence of the bravery and a sense of duty displayed by all.

It isn’t limited only to two World Wars, but also engagements across the globe, from the Falklands to Burma, Londonderry to Iran, Armagh to Afghanistan. The number of Plymouth lads that gave their lives is not recorded centrally and even if it were it would likely be wrong, as so many lay forever more next to their comrades “in the corner of a foreign field”, sometimes identified, sometimes not, simply recorded as “missing in action”.