The third annual Veterans Day was celebrated up and down the UK with the national event being held in Blackpool.
The Duchess of Cornwall takes part in the National Veterans day events in Blackpool
Picture: Stuart Bingham
The Blackpool event was the first Veterans Day event to be attended by a member of the Royal Family, as Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cornwall joined the celebrations. These included an Aero GP, where veteran pilots competed in acrobatic competitions, and a Veterans Badge Challenge in which veterans completed tasks such as abseiling down Blackpool Tower, and diving to the bottom of a shark tank to retrieve their badges. Night time parachute drops and exhibitions of military vehicles also formed part of the series of events.
Minister for Veterans, Derek Twigg and Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt were in Blackpool. Gen Dannatt said:
I am glad that today in Blackpool and right across the country, people are recognising and celebrating the achievements of our veterans and the contribution that they have made while serving and subsequently to their communities.
Veterans Day has now become an established part of the calendar and I would like to pay tribute to all those in Blackpool as well as throughout the country who have organised events to honour the millions of men and women who have served the United Kingdom over the years.
Anthony Barlow, 45, from Freckleton near Blackpool, is a veteran of 3 PARA and served in the Falklands in 1982.
Anthony abseiled down the 158 metre-tall Blackpool Tower before receiving his Veterans' Badge from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. He said:
I feel that Veterans Day is all about making people aware that there are conflicts other than World War Two, and the aim of the day was to get kids involved which means that the memory of those people who took part in all these conflicts will be kept alive.
Anthony now works for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and says that the, "comradeship and discipline," he learned in the forces now serve him well in civilian life.