Service and rededication of Cromer war memorial will be an historic day to remember

The Marquess of Townshend, Charles Townshend, is the grandson of the 6th Marquess of Townshend who unveiled the memorial in July 1921,

The unveiling will follow a service at the church, which will closely follow the original dedication and unveiling service from 1921.

There will also be readings of war poetry, and a performance by Norfolk soprano, Zaira Palumbo.

At the end of the service, everyone will be led from the church door to the memorial by bagpipe player, Jacob Millin whose grandfather also played the pipes on Sword Beach during D-Day to rally the landing troops.

As part of the First World War centenary proceedings, Cromer Town Council has been given ten 'There but Not There' Perspex silhouettes.

These will be spread around the centre pews of the church, representing some of the men who never returned.

David Pritchard, the mayor of Cromer and lead on the project, said: 'The unveiling, which was originally watched in 1921 by the widows, families and children of the war dead was an extremely important day in the history of Cromer.

'Now the memorial has the names of the Second World War dead on it, it is hoped that many people will also attend the service unveiling.

'I'm especially excited to learn that relatives of one of those named on the memorial will be in attendance and proudly wearing his medals.'

The project to raise funds to restore the war memorial started in 2013 with the first civic and community carol service in December. Since then, the service has become an annual tradition. The fund-raising raised more than £26,000 against the total cost of £42,000.

The work has included the carving of five figures – St George slaying a dragon, an airman, an infantryman, a sailor and a Red Cross nurse.

Proceedings will start at 1.30pm, on Saturday, November 10, beginning with a service in the church. There is no charge for admission and no tickets are required.