Armed Forces Day 2024: Hartlepool museum hosts biggest service yet to honour country's heroes
Hartlepool’s Armed Forces family put on a fine display for an annual celebration of the our services dedication.
The Heugh Battery Museum on the Headland proved a fitting setting for the town’s Armed Forces Day ceremony organised by Hartlepool Armed Forces Liaison Group on Saturday.
Veterans associations, civic dignitaries and the public fell in to honour the contribution of the country’s armed forces personnel at home and abroad.
Sue Snowdon, Lord Lieutenant of County Durham, the region’s official representative for the King, said our armed servicemen and women work in often dangerous and difficult circumstances to protect the nation in many ways.
She said: "They and their families give up much on our behalf and also sometimes pay a tragic price for our security.
"So it’s only right that we dedicate a day each year to recognise the work and the sacrifice they make.”
Mrs Snowdon also paid tribute to Hartlepool’s wider armed forces family, including veterans and cadets.
The ceremony, led by Reverand Roz Hall, of St Hilda’s Church, included a blessing and dedication of a new standard for the Hartlepool Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club.
The branch has grown rapidly since it was formed five years ago and recently passed the milestone of 350 members.
Breakfast club founder Rob Taylor said their success was down to its simple concept of providing peer to peer support, breakfast and banter which only veterans can understand and appreciate.
He said of the dedication of their standard: “It allows us to be a more prominent club within the armed forces community here in Hartlepool.
"To be a visual representation means a great deal and is a reward for all our hard work over the last three years.”
The Lord Lieutenant paid tribute to the achievement of the Armed Forces Breakfast Club in such a short space of time.
"Congratulations on your success,” she said. “May you long continue.”
The Heugh Battery Museum was open to the public and welcomed a variety of stands by organisations including The Rifles, Royal Engineers, and Royal Air Force Association.
Museum manager Diane Stephens said: “This is probably our third year of marking Armed Forces Day but it seems to grow each year and this is the biggest event so far.
"I can’t think of anywhere better to have it.”