YOUNG servicemen joined Second World War veterans at Armistice Day ceremonies across the county.

Hundreds of people stood in silence next to war memorials in Weymouth and Dorchester yesterday to remember fallen servicemen as the Last Post was played.

Shoppers in Dorchester came to a standstill as they joined veterans gathered at the War Memorial at the bottom of South Street to observe the two-minute silence.

Around 100 people attended the ceremony organised by the Royal British Legion.

Branch president Les Cuff said: “There was a jolly good turnout and everything went very well.

“There were a heck of a lot of veterans gathered down there with their standards.

“There were quite a few youngsters there as well, which was nice. It was very well observed.”

Council staff gathered round the cenotaph at County Hall for a short service led by Paul Arnold, minister at Dorchester's United Church.

Representatives from Dorset County Council, West Dorset District Council, Unison and St Mary’s Catholic First School laid wreathes at the cenotaph before the crowd observed the two-minute silence.

The Thomas Hardye School was forced to cancel its Remembrance Service for the whole school due to the weather.

A group of CCF cadets from the school did part in a wreath laying ceremony to mark the occasion.

Among the dignitaries on Weymouth Esplanade paying their respects was the borough’s deputy mayor Coun Graham Winter.

He said: “I think it’s nice to see that so many people still mark the day and that so many are prepared to come down here in such awful weather.”

Among those paying their respects was 32-year-old serviceman Andrew Songhurst of the 3rd battalion, The Parachute Regiment.

He said: “I hope that this tradition of marking Armistice Day is something that continues through the generations until my children are older.”

Territorial Army soldier Leon Meter, 21, stood as a standard bearer for the service and is due to be deployed to Afghanistan soon. He said: “I’ve thought about a couple of mates of mine who have died while serving and I’m glad that so many others feel the same way and came down here too.”

Among the older generation marking day was Ann Taylor, who proudly wore medals earned by her father in the First World War and her husband in the Second World War.

She said: “I would be disgusted if people didn’t continue to come here to remember the fallen.”

Royal British Legion chairman Naomi Turner said: “It’s nice to see so many people and such a mixture of ages.”