Armed Forces Day commemorations have traditionally been low key events in Cornwall, but Falmouth is standing ready to buck the trend with a packed programme of events, including air displays and the Royal Marine Band.
Fore more news, a guide and an events schedule click here.
Falmouth town manager, Richard Gates, has been instrumental in organising the event which will take place on June 22 and include displays by a Spitfire, Lancaster bomber, the Falmouth Lifeboat and a search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose.
“The logistics of this day are huge so we have had to make sure it is well planned and well organised,” said Mr Gates. “Historically with Armed Forces Day there is a national one (event) and many counties throughout the UK have their own one and pick a town on rotation.
“It was held in Bodmin last year and St Austell the year before.
Historically it’s a fairly low key event, but we wanted to make the event much, much bigger and really bring things in for people to see.
“The key thing we wanted was to have as many multi-venues as we could realistically do throughout the town.
Although it is all to do with the armed forces past, present and future, we wanted it to be a not particularly formal day so there should be something for all ages.”
There will be static displays and activities staged on The Moor, Prince of Wales Pier, Church Street car park, in Market Street and Church Street and on Events Square from 11am. The main shopping streets will be closed to traffic between 9.30am and 5pm.
The day will begin with a veterans’ parade which will leave Church Street car park at 11am and make its way to Events Square where the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Colonel Edward Bolitho will officially open the proceedings.
There will be military vehicles positioned throughout the town and on the pier there will be a Spitfire which is being restored in Cornwall and on The Moor a life-size replica model of a Spitfire and the cockpit of a Harrier Jump Jet.There will be a chance to look around a Royal Navy and an RFA ship which will be berthed alongside Queen’s Wharf in Falmouth Docks. Free ferries will run from the pier, taking people to the ships.
The highlights of the day for many will be the air displays over the inner harbour.
At midday a Venom will give an eight minute display and at 2pm there will be a six minute Avro Anson display.
There will be a search and rescue display involving the lifeboat and helicopter at 3pm which will be followed at 4pm by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight which will feature a Spitfire and Lancaster and last between ten and 12 minutes.
“There will be no flights between 12 and 2pm so people can have lunch and not miss anything,” said Richard. “We have never had a Lancaster fly over Falmouth before – it will be an impressive sight.
“All of these originally were going to be fly pasts, but they are displays now.”
Ten thousands programmes have been printed and 4,000 flyers have been produced for distribution to local schools.
For the full guide to Armed Forces Day in Falmouth click the image below.
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