Armistice 100: City ready to host Remembrance Day parade as event continues to grow

The combined fire service detachment on parade in Durham at a previous Remembrance Day event.

The city will welcome the ship's company of the French Navy boat the Pluvier for Sunday's service and parade, which will mark 100 years since the end of the First World War.

The French Consul for the North of England, Monsieur Eric Donjon, said: "I am delighted that our French Navy is being a part of this great occasion in Durham City.

"As our two nations marched to war together in 1914 and 1939, so we march again, to pay our respects to the fallen and mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War."

The parade will also feature the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Dragoon Guards, troopers from the Household Cavalry, members of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and local regiment the Rifles.

They will be joined by other units from the Army, servicemen and women from the RAF and others from the services community.

The Band and Bugles of the Durham Army Cadet Force and the Durham Constabulary Brass Band will also perform.

Durham University staff will also join in the procession.

The service in Durham Cathedral will begin at 10.15am, with the military to muster ready for the parade on the Palace Green and then set off at 11.30am.

It will follow Saddler Street, down to the Market Place and into Millennium Square.

Arthur Lockyear, who helps organise the parade, said: "We are delighted to have the French Navy present.

"It's going to be a magnificent spectacle and we hope that the ex-service community and people who have had parents and grandparents who have served will come down and support it."

The five regiments Foot Guards will be represented at Durham on Armistice Day by young Guardsmen from the Infantry Training Centre Catterick Garrison.

Each regiment can be distinguished in uniform as follows:

*Grenadier Guards - tunic buttons spaced singularly, a white plume in the bearskin cap, and a flaming grenade on the collar.

*The Coldstream Guards - tunic buttons spaced in twos, a red plume in the bearskin, and Garter Star on the collar.

*Scots Guards - tunic buttons spaced in threes, no plume in the bearskin, and a thistle on the collar.

*Irish Guards - tunic buttons spaced in fours, a blue plume in the bearskin cap, and a shamrock on the collar.

*Welsh Guards - tunic buttons in fives, a green and white plume in the bearskin, and a leek on the collar.