SOMERSET has mourned the loss of those who battled and lost their lives fighting for our country in the line of duty.

Every year the country comes together for Remembrance Sunday and this year was no different, with schools and towns within the county paying their respects.

Remembrance Day marks the actual day World War One ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918.

Students and staff at Monkton Wood Academy gathered to observe a two-minute silence today as part of the National Act of Remembrance, paying tribute to the courage and sacrifice of service members past and present.

At 11am on Remembrance Day, Queen's College, Taunton, came together in a Remembrance Service to honour those who gave their lives.

This included the children planting crosses with poppies on to pay their respects.

Leading up to Remembrance Day, students and staff at both schools participated in assemblies focused on the themes of courage, selflessness, and acts of service.

Hundreds of people came together on a beautiful autumnal morning on Sunday 10th November, Frome to mark Remembrance Sunday 2024.

Held at the Memorial Theatre, the ceremony was attended by members of the Royal British Legion, Frome Mayor Andy Jones, Member of Parliament Anna Sabine, veterans and serving personnel, and local groups and organisations.

The famous Exhortation – ‘They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old’ - was read by Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers veteran Tannhauser Hughes, whose father Frank played a pivotal role as a glider pilot in Operation Market Garden, and veteran Annabel Macey read an address where significant military anniversaries were recognised.

Rev Liz Dudley blessed The Frome Poppy, made up of 500 poppies knitted by Diane Perrett and Pat Hayward to the memory of their father Cpl R Smith who died of injuries in 1946.

A new addition to the 2024 ceremony was the laying of a black poppy wreath by Somerset African Caribbean Network, in memory of people of colour who served in the military in two world wars.

Frome Royal British Legion Remembrance Coordinator Jane Norris said: “This poignant, unifying pause in our lives has been observed on every Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day since the 11th November 1919, one year to the hour that the Great War ended. 

"There is nothing great in war."