Armed Forces Day returns to Salisbury
Events are taking place throughout today (Sunday 26th June)
Salisbury's Market Place and Guildhall Square is celebrating all things military today (Sunday 26th June).
Armed Forces Day celebrations are taking place, for the first time since 2019, when the city hosted the national celebrations at Hudson's Field.
Free events and activities are being held between 10.00am and 4.00pm.
They'll include military displays from Larkhill's 32 Regiment Royal Artillery and Military Intelligence, as well as craft activities for children, workshops, fairground rides and stalls.
Live music will come from the Army Medical Services Band and a set for Durrington DJ, Disco Dion.
The Army's Commander for the South West Colonel Gary McDade says that the celebrations mean a lot to those in the forces:
"Our families endure lots of separation when we're away and service comes at various costs. So to have the opportunity to be embraced by the public, for them to tell us that we mean something to them actually means a lot to all of us."
The day's been put together by Salisbury City Council, as a way of 'supporting the past, present and future of the Armed Forces and its community'.
South Wiltshire has a proud military history, with a quarter of the British Army based on Salisbury Plain, and an RAF base at Boscombe Down.
Colonel Gary McDade, the Army's Commander for the South West, is looking forward to meeting the public today:
"Lots of people's understanding of the Armed Forces, comes from what they see on the TV or read on the internet, and therefore the opportunity to interact face to face is vitally important and that's why we put such a lot of effort into it.
"Perhaps people will leave by the end of the day knowing a bit more about what the British Army does, and the other Armed Forces as well, of course."