THE centre of Lyneham came to a standstill on Sunday morning as more than a thousand soldiers and officers of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) marched through the village on their way to an outdoor service of remembrance.

The route took the troops, from 8 Training Battalion REME, past Lyneham Library, where the salute was taken by Colonel Ed Heal OBE, the head of establishment at MOD Lyneham, accompanied by James Gray, MP for North Wiltshire.

Preceded by one of the army’s giant battlefield recovery vehicles, the soldiers and a detachment of Royal Marines from MOD Lyneham, marched into the grounds of the REME Museum.

A ‘drum-head’ service was held to mark the centenary of the Armistice, which brought the First World War to a close in November 1918.

Hundreds of local residents of all ages also joined the outdoor service, which included a song by a choir of Fijian soldiers and laments from a bagpiper.

After a bugler played the Last Post, quiet descended on the service for the two-minute silence as all those assembled remembered those who had lost their lives.

Colonel Heal, James Gray, military officers and local dignitaries laid poppy wreaths at the drum-head altar.

The march and parade was led by Lieutenant Colonel Matt Horn, the commanding officer of MOD Lyneham-based 8 Training Battalion REME, which is the largest in the British Army.

REME soldiers and officers also took part in Remembrance Day parades in Calne and Royal Wootton Bassett on Sunday.