THE FLAG has been raised in Thornbury as the town prepares to host celebrations for Armed Forces Day.

This year’s special celebration marks 100 years since the end of the First World War, and is the first time South Gloucestershire's festivities for the annual event will take place in the town, away from the usual locations of Kingswood and Staple Hill.

A special ceremony took place on Monday, outside Thornbury Town Hall as members of the town council and several South Gloucestershire branches of the Royal British Legion gathered to watch Thornbury mayor Cllr Shirley Holloway raise the Armed Forces Day flag over the High Street.

On Armed Forces Day itself - Saturday, June 30 – Thornbury will host the parade on Thornbury High Street, leading to the carnival on Chantry Field.

The parade will set off at 11.30am, finishing onto the Chantry Field, where the celebrations will continue with a drumhead ceremony at 12.15pm and plenty of live performances, stalls and other attractions.

Madeleine Bills, chairman of the South Gloucestershire Armed Forces Committee, said that the ceremony was ‘only the start of the celebrations’.

“The flag going up says it is the Armed Forces Day and it gets people to think about the occasion and what is happening in the world,” she said, adding that it was important to ‘let the armed forces know we are here supporting them’.

“Not only in the past but in the future as well,” she said. “They are out there putting their lives on the line for us and it can be a very sad place for them when they are out there all on their own.

“They need to know there is support for them so every year we get together and celebrate them.”

Saying how much of an ‘honour’ it was to host the South Gloucestershire festivities, Cllr Holloway said she was really looking forward to the day.

“I am delighted that Armed Forces Day is being celebrated in Thornbury” she said.

“We have always thought it would be good to have the celebration here and it is really an opportunity for the people of Thornbury to show their appreciation for our armed forces and all they have done for us. It will be quite special.”