Towns and villages across the region are set to mark of the centenary of the Armistice. Here are details of some of the main events being held in memory of the end of the First World War.
Ipswich
Thursday, November 8: There will be two simultaneous services at 11am. Schoolchildren will gather at the Fields of Honour in the Old Cemetery, where each child will lay a poppy on a grave in tribute to one of the fallen. The mayor, Jane Riley, will attend. At the same time, children from other local schools will also attend a Royal British Legion service in Christchurch Park, attended by deputy mayor Sarah Barber.
Sunday, November 11: The town’s annual remembrance service will start with a parade through the town, leaving the Cornhill at 10.30am. The service will take place at the War Memorial in Christchurch Park, starting at 10.50am. After the service, civic guests will move in a procession to the saluting base, close to Christchurch Mansion, where the mayor and the Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk, Clare, Countess of Euston, will take the salute at the March Past.
Aldeburgh
Sunday, November 11: A lone piper will play Battle’s O’er by the war memorial at 6am. At 10.30am people will start to gather at the war memorial, including soldiers from 653 Squadron. The service will start at 10.40am, and at 11.03am an Apache helicopter will fly past, subject to military clearance, before the piper leads a procession to the parish church at 11.10am for a remembrance service. At 6.55pm, the Last Post will be sounded at the beacon on Crag Path, and the beacon will then be lit at 7pm, before bells ring out from the parish church.
Badingham
Sunday, November 11: The village is joining in the Battle’s Over centenary beacon event. At 6.55pm, the names of the fallen will be read out, and at 7pm the beacon at the top of St John the Baptist Church tower will be lit, to join in with the national Beacons of Light tribute, Then, at 7.05pm, Badingham church will ring its bells, and a crier will perform a cry for peace.
Bury St Edmunds
Wednesday, November 7: At 6pm, the Eve of Peace service, Suffolk’s main drumhead service, will be held in St Edmundsbury Cathedral, including the colours and standards of services, cadets and youth organisations, and descendants of people who fell in the war.
Sunday, November 11: The commemorations will start with a parade setting out from the Abbey Gardens at 10.30am, to the War Memorial on Angel Hill. Wreaths will be laid before a service in St Mary’s Church.
Campsea Ashe
Saturday, November 10: A commemorative event will be held from 2- 5pm in the church. You can find out more about the village in wartime, see a cascade of poppies knitted by local people and Tommy silhouettes, and take part in various activities, including playing wartime games and eating trench cake. There will also be music and poems from the war era.
Sunday, November 11: A remembrance service will be held in the church, starting at 10.45am. A commemorative book, containing the biographies of 84 men from the village involved in the war and Red Cross volunteers who served at the two Campsea Ashe hospitals, will be dedicated at the service.
Colchester
Sunday, November 11: At 6am, a bagpipe lament, Battle’s O’er, will be played from the Town Hall balcony. The remembrance service will be held at the war memorial, with RBL members gathering at the town hall from 10am, ahead of the service and wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial. The parade will include 180 soldiers from locally-based regiments and the Band of the Parachute Regiment and Colchester Military Wives Choir will perform both before and during the service. Troops, veterans and youth organisations will march through the town after the service, and at 11.59 the Sanctus Bell will be rung in the Town Hall. Then at noon the mayor, Peter Chillingworth, will re-create the scene from 100 years ago when the proclamation of the end of the war was read from the Town Hall balcony. From 6.30pm, there will be commemorations in Castle Park, including a tree planting and a procession to hear the Last Post played at 6.55pm, followed by a beacon lighting at 7pm. Roads in the town centre will be closed from 8am to 12.30pm.
Easton
Sunday, November 11: A beacon on the village green will be lit at 7pm, after the names of the fallen are read out at 6.55pm, as part of the Battle’s Over beacon lighting event. Then at 7.05pm Easton Church will ring its bells as part of the Ringing Out for Peace event.
Felixstowe
Friday, November 9: There will be a schools’ service at the war memorial from 10.45am to 11am.
Sunday, November 11: The civic remembrance service will be held at 9.45am on Sunday at St John’s Church, followed by the act of remembrance at the war memorial at 10.45am. There will then be another service at the war graves in Felixstowe Cemetery, with people gathering at 12 noon for a 12.15pm start. In the evening, from 6.15pm, there will be a procession from the war memorial, with 163 volunteer torch-bearers paying tribute to the 163 men from the town and nearby villages who died during the war. This will also include a beacon-lighting. The best location to watch the evening procession is from the Town Hall Gardens.
Framlingham
Sunday, November 11: The annual parade will assemble in New Road at 10.30am and set off at 10.40am, led by the Woodbridge Excelsior Band. It will march through the town to the war memorial in the churchyard. The service will begin with names of people who died in the war being read, and tea lights being lit for each name, before the laying of wreaths. After the two-minute silence, there will be a short service. The church doorway will be covered with hand-knitted poppies. After the service, the parade will march to Market Hill.
Hadleigh
Saturday, November 10: Hadleigh and District Royal British Legion will present a Festival of Remembrance, raising funds for the Poppy Appeal, at the United Reformed Church, starting at 7.30pm. It will feature the Hadleigh Community Choir, Wattisham Military Wives Choir, Rosewood, HADS and guests. This is a ticket-only event, with tickets being available free from the RBL, Thrift Shop and Idler.
Sunday, November 11: There will be a parade from George Street to the war memorial to carry out a wreath-laying ceremony, with the two-minutes silence being held at the junction of George Street and the High Street at 11am. The road will close during the silence. This will be followed by a service at St Mary’s Church. At 1.55pm, there will be another parade from Lower George Street to St Mary’s Church, including a wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial at 2.15pm. There will be a flypast at 2.45pm, followed by a church service starting at 3pm.
Halesworth
Sunday, November 11: A procession will start from the Thoroughfare at 10.30am, including army cadets and members of the Royal British Legion. There will be a wreath-laying ceremony and two-minutes silence after it arrives at the war memorial, followed by a service inside the church. A trail of poppies is also being laid in the town.
Haverhill
Saturday, November 10: From 7-9.30pm, Haverhill Remembers - Lest We Forget, an evening of music, words and images commemorating the end of the First World War will be held at the Old Independent Church in Hamlet Road. This is a free, ticketed event, with tickets available from Haverhill Arts Centre.
Sunday, November 11: At 11am, the Royal British Legion will hold a two-minute silence at Haverhill War Memorial. Then at 2.15pm there will be a remembrance parade, starting from Haverhill Arts Centre and going through the town to the cemetery. At 2.40pm there will be a remembrance service at the war memorial, and then following the service the parade will go back through the town, before a town thanksgiving service at St Mary’s Church at 3.15pm. The commemorations will resume in the evening, with Battle’s Over - A Nation’s Tribute in St Mary’s Chuirchyard, which will be lit up with music from the war era. Then the mayor, Tony Brown, will deliver a short message at 6.50pm, followed by the Last Post, the lighting of a beacon at the church and the bells ringing out for peace. The church will also be open, with exhibits and refreshments.
Kesgrave
Friday, November 9: Primary school pupils and army cadets will take place in a service at Kesgrave War Memorial, Legion Green, starting at 10.45am, including wreath-laying. Light refreshments for adults will be served afterward in the Royal British Legion Hall.
Saturday, November 10: From 10am-4pm, there will be a First World War exhibition at All Saints Church, focusing on the life and times of Fred Upson, who was the only Kesgrave resident who died on active service during the war, including displays, videos and children’s activities. Also, from 1-4pm, in the church hall, there will be a life-size imitation trench and exhibition.
Sunday, November 11: At 10am, there will be a parade service at the church, ending at Legion Green. Then, there will be an act of remembrance at the war memorial between 10.45 and 11.05am, immediately followed by another parade service.
Leiston
Sunday, November 11: At 10.30am, there will be a parade from the Cadet Centre in Victory Road to St Margaret’s Church, for the laying of wreaths in front of the war memorial and the two-minute silence.
Saxmundham
Sunday, November 11: At 10.45am, a remembrance service will he held at the war memorial in Fromus Square. Then at 2.30pm there will be a parade from the Market Place to the United Reformed Church, for a service at 3pm. Following the service, tea and cakes will be served in the Market Hall.
Southwold
Thursday, November 8: The mayor, Michael Rowan-Robinson, is laying a cross at the war memorial at 10.50am, and inviting people to join him for the occasion. There will then be a two-minute silence at 11am.
Sunday, November 11: A lone piper will play on the town hall balcony at 6am. At 10.30am, there will be a parade, led by Southwold and Reydon Corps of Drums, from the market place to the war memorial in Bartholomew Green. Wreaths will then be laid at 10.40am. At 11am, there will be a service of remembrance at St Edmund’s Church, before the church bells ring at 12.30pm. Then, at 6.45pm, the Last Post will be played as a beacon is lit at Gun Hill, followed by a cry for peace around the world by the town crier.
Stowmarket
Sunday, November 11: There will be a parade from Red Gables starting at 8.45am, going through the town to St Peter & St Mary’s Parish Church. The service at the church will start at 9.30am. There will also be a short service in the Market Place at 10.50am, with the silence at 11am, followed by a parade to the memorial gates at the recreation ground, where poppy wreaths will be laid.
Sudbury
Sunday, November 11: A parade will start from the north side of Market Hill, leaving at 2pm, led by Colchester Pipes and Drums, marching to St Gregory’s Church for a service at 2.30pm. After the service, wreaths will be laid on the British and American memorials, and the parade will then march along a different route back to Market Hill. After the salute is taken, refreshments will be served in the town hall.
Woodbridge
Thursday November 8: A service will be held at the New Cemetery, at 10.45am.
Friday, November 9: There will be a service at the war memorial with schoolchildren, again at 10.45am. A number of roads will be closed around Market Hill between 10am and 11.15am.
Sunday, November 11: A major parade will go through the town, followed by an open-air service of remembrance on Market Hill. A number of roads around Market will again be closed, between 10am and 12.15pm.
Would you like your remembrance event or service added to our list? Email us the details.
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