TWO members of the Alcester branch of the Royal British Legion recently had the honour of joining thousands on a pilgrimage to Belgium as part of the Great Pilgrimage 90 (GP90).

The Royal British Legion event, which took place last week, marked 90 years since the original 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.

Mike Clark and Nick Dearling toured 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, bearing the branch standard and a wreath.

They joined more than 2,200 other legion representatives and dignitaries, including civic and military guests from the UK, commonwealth and northern Europe.

Once at the Menin Gate, Nick lay a wreath on behalf of the Alcester community.

Both men said they were delighted and honoured to be able to represent the Alcester branch of the Legion and the town.

They added to see 1,100 standards being paraded was a sight that is unlikely to ever be repeated and one they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Mike Gittus, chairman of the Alcester Branch of the Legion, said: "I'm grateful to both Nick and Mike for representing the Alcester branch on this very special occasion."