Pembroke and Monkton History Society will be holding an event at Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday morning, commemorating the centenary of the end of WWI.

“The Society has been working on a project to commemorate the centenary of the end of WW1 for which we have HLF funding. The project has many aspects and I will be reporting on this,” said Linda Asman of the Society.

“We have been researching the identities behind the names on Pembroke Cenotaph - and this will (once the research is as complete as we can make it) result in a printed Book of Remembrance to be placed in our parish churches.

“At the same time we have been collecting photographs and information about the effect of WW1 on Pembroke and district. Again this will result in a book which will be published in time for World Peace Day next year. At the moment too we have an exhibition in St Mary’s Church along with a commemorative art display.

“We have extended the project out to schools and artist Pauline Le Britton will be speaking about this.

“Community film maker, Sharron Harries has made a series of films of local people telling their stories and these will be shown for the first time on Saturday,” she continued.

Proceedings will begin at 10.30 am and the event hall will be open from 10 am for coffee and cakes.

A series of commemorative events by Pembroke town council also start on Sunday with the playing of Battle’s O’er by Mr. Graham Phillips at 6 am at Pembroke Cenotaph, followed by a service and parade at 11 am at the Cenotaph (meet at the town hall at 10.30 am, and a service at Monkton Priory Church at 6 pm.

The Last Post at 6.55 pm - will see 1,000 individual buglers sound this historic tribute at WWI ‘Beacons of Light’ locations across the nation and UK?overseas territories. The beacon will be lit at Pembroke Castle at 7 pm.

At 7.05 pm the town crier of Pembroke will join together with other town criers around the world in a ‘Cry for Peace’ which will take place at the statue at Sout Quay car park.

Displays are currently taking place at Tabernacle Church; Monkton Church (celebration of peace exhibition); and St. Mary’s Church.

The poignant display of poppies, each one commemorating one of The Fallen in the Monkton area, at Priory Church, Monkton, shows each of the 33 poppies representing one of the men and women of Monkton who fell in the First World War; the compilation of names taken from the war memorials in Pembroke and Monkton Church, and those known to family members.

A chance remark in Pembroke’s Royal George Hotel led to a group of regulars getting together to fund and make the plastic poppies themselves, and using research by David Rees and the late Owen Vaughan, the 33 names were identified.

Thanks go to David Powell, Paul Rogers, Pat Doyle, Colin Robinson, Roger Knight, and Malcolm Crossman for their hard work with this display.

A service will also be held at Freshwater West on Monday at 11 am.

You can keep up to date with events on Facebook and on the website - www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk