Local veterans gathered at Alexandra Park last Sunday (September 13) to remember those who fought in the conflict. Battle of Britain Sunday this year is on September 20. Hastings and St Leonards Veterans Association (HSVA) had originally scheduled a Parade and Service of Commemoration on September 15 (Battle of Britain Day) but with the Government issuing the Rule of Six, effective on September 14, it would have made any gathering illegal. Richard Butcher, from HSVA, said: “Coupled with the cancellation by Hastings Borough Council of all events on its land from 14th September, It was decided to bring forward the HSVA Commemoration to Sunday, September 13 at 2 pm. “It was also necessary to provide a Covid-19 Risk Assessment by HBC’s close of business at 2pm on Friday September 11,. This and all other documentation were completed just in time, with the kind help of the Hastings Mayor’s Office, the Hastings Environmental Health team, and other officers at HBC. “Sunday September 13 at the War Memorial in Alexandra Park was warm and sunny, more like June than September. “Members of the Hastings and St Leonards Veterans Association assembled, wearing face coverings in accordance with the Risk Assessment. Hands were also sanitised before taking charge of the Standards and Flags which were to be paraded. “Several groups of spectators and on-lookers had also gathered, including the family of HSVA’s former Senior Officer (Air), the late Group Captain Peter Holland MBE, and Lord Brett Maclean. “The Mayor of Hastings arrived and the HSVA President started the ceremony. Before marching single file, socially spaced, into the War Memorial precinct, participants doffed masks. Led by the Standards (Queen’s Colour), RAFA Hastings and St. Leonards, HSVA), and followed by the flags of all four Services (Royal Air Force, British Army, Royal Navy, Merchant Navy), and the flags of the some of the major contingents of allies participating in the Battle of Britain (UK, Canada, Poland, Australia, New Zealand), the Memorial was surrounded. “HSVA’s Chaplain, Rev. David Hill offered prayers and thanksgiving for victory granted and spoke of how we justly remember the our brave Spitfire and Hurricane pilots, many of whom did not return from aerial combat, but oftentimes forget the thousands of other RAF & RN personnel, who kept the fighter aircraft armed and flying and who plotted the enemy’s attacks from radar stations. “He also reminded the gathering of the contributions of the Army, such as anti-aircraft guns, and the supply of food and fuel by the MN, guarded by the RN, in the desperate days of continuous warfare, July to September 1940. In his address, the Mayor of Hastings told of the Service personnel in Hastings when it was on the front-line, the contribution of civilian services (Police, Fire, Ambulance, ARP) and all civilians remaining in the Borough, who also faced death and destruction. “The Exhortation preceded the sounding of the Last Post, followed by the lowering of Standards and Flags in two minutes silence. Standards and Flags were raised again when the Epitaph sounded. “The Parade was marched off in groups, in single file; while masks were replaced, and hands sanitised, and before dispersing, HSVA’s President thanked participants and spectators for joining in the ceremony, and enjoined everybody to stay safe!