Members of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service marching in the Remembrance Day parade through Ypres on 11 November 2007

6 November 2008

More than 20 serving and retired members of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue service will be travelling to Belgium on Sunday to take part in the Remembrance Day parade.

Together with friends and colleagues from Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, representatives have been visiting the Flemish town of Ypres every year since 1990.

The fire service has a special connection with Ypres which dates back to 1928. Every day at 8pm buglers from the local fire service play The Last Post beneath the arches of The Menin Gate, a memorial erected in the decade following the end of World War One to remember the names of nearly 50,000 soldiers that have no known grave.

Group Manager Keith Holland has organised the trip for many years. He said: “It is wonderful to meet the local fire service, whose commitment and dedication have kept this emotional ceremony happening each evening. It is also an honour to be able to take part in the Remembrance Day parade each year.”

Several members of the group will take part in the parade through the town of Ypres on Tuesday 11 November, led by Buckinghamshire fire & Rescue Service’s Chief Fire Officer Damian Smith and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Dave Etheridge from Oxfordshire Fire & Rescue Service, with standard bearers Pete Soulsby and Dickie Heybourne. They will join other local and international fire services in this event.

Ypres is a small area of Belgium which was the scene of many battles over a period of four years. More than 1.2 million soldiers were wounded and over 500,000 killed, of which about 250,000 were British.

Keith added: “The trip gives visitors an insight and understanding of the events that occurred in this small area of Flanders.

“We actively help members trace relatives and find battlefield locations where family members may have served”.

On Monday 10 November at 9pm, Channel 4 are showing a special episode of Time Team dedicated to the excavation last year of the Vampir dugout near Zonnebeke, Ypres, will be visited by the group in this year's trip.

The dugout was fully excavated in 2007 and is one of the best preserved World War One dugouts in Flanders.

This year a group of Buckinghamshire firefighters will be returning to the dugout to continue with its restoration and help with its preservation for future generations.

Please click here to find out more about the annual trip to Ypres