Royal British Legion hosts service to remember end of Korean War

​On Sunday July 30, Horncastle’s Royal British Legion hosted a service to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the armistice which ended the war, which lasted between 1950 and 1953.

The service was held in Hamerton Gardens, the home of the Korean Veterans Memorial, with the three remaining Lincolnshire veterans and four representatives from the Korean Embassy in attendance.

More than 100 people attended the service, including representatives from the families of the veterans who have now passed away, as well as Royal British Legion members, Horncastle Town Council Mayor Matt Wilkinson, the local Air Cadet Force and members of the public.

A Parade of Standards from around Lincolnshire, including the Horncastle Branch Korean Standard, announced the start of the service with the Korean and United Kingdom National Anthems.

There were addresses from John Johnson, Lincolnshire & District Royal British Legion County Chairman, and Captain(N) Hyung Lee, the Defence Attache of the Republic of Korea, representing the Korean Embassy, indicated how important both parties feel over remembering this conflict.

Mr Johnson, Captain Lee, Coun Wilkinson, Sandra Nelson representing the Korean Veterans, and the local Air Cadet Force all laid memorial wreaths, while representatives from the families of the veterans named on the Memorial laid flowers.

A minutes silence was observed between the playing of the Last Post and Reveille, and the standards march off ended the service, before 60 people then attended a lunch in honour of the veterans and the

Korean Embassy staff.

Coun Wilkinson of the service: “I was very privileged to attend and it was a pleasure to have the veterans in attendance.

"It was a great event to be a part of and the weather held out, luckily. Thank you to everybody who attended.”