Photos: Michael Dawson

Members of the Lathom and Burscough branch of The Royal British Legion will join thousands on a 'Pilgrimage of Remembrance' to a WW1 battlefield that culminates in a parade and ceremony in Ypres as part of the end of its centenary commemorations this August.

Known as Great Pilgrimage 90 (GP90), it takes place between the 5th and 9th of August and will be one of the largest in the charity’s history.

GP90 will mark 90 years since the original Royal British Legion Pilgrimage in 1928, which saw 11,000 World War One veterans and war widows visit the battlefields of the Somme in France and Ypres in Belgium, a decade after the conflict ended.

That Pilgrimage culminated in a march through Ypres to the Commonwealth War Grave Commission’s Menin Gate Memorial for a ceremony to commemorate the launch of The Hundred Days Offensive and in remembrance of those who never returned.

Local Legion members, Mike Forshaw and Kathleen Murdoch along with Richard Houghton and David Murdoch will represent the Lathom and Burscough Branch and the local community at the event, as Standard Bearers and wreath layers respectively.

They will tour some of the same battlefields and cemeteries visited by those on the 1928 Pilgrimage, before marching along the original route through Ypres, to the Menin Gate on the 8th August, bearing their branch standards and poppy wreaths, and will join more than 2,200 other Legion representatives and dignitaries, including Civic and military guests from the UK, Commonwealth and Northern Europe who are taking part. Once at the Menin Gate, Richard and David will lay wreaths on behalf of the Lathom and Burscough community.

Tony Bridge, Chairman of the Branch told QLocal this morning: “Great Pilgrimage 90 is a unique opportunity for the Legion community to come together and bear our Standards along the same route in Ypres taken 90 years earlier by the veterans and widows of the First World War. The Lathom and Burscough Branch looks forward to proudly representing the communities of south-west Lancashire at the event.”

As local champions of Remembrance, the Branch is looking to work in partnership with their community to bring their unique Remembrance message to the Menin Gate, on their wreath, where it will be displayed in a wreath installation for viewing by the general public until the end of August.

The parade will start at midday and folk are being urged to make the trip across to Ypres for the 8th August and fill the Market Square to watch the parade, One Hundred Days ceremony and then enjoy an afternoon of musical entertainment including The Central Band of the Royal British Legion.