Duke leads tributes to wartime fallen

Prince Philip was joined by veterans for a two-minute silence yesterday to honour to the war dead at the Graves of the Unknown British Soldiers, which commemorates those who died in the First and Second World Wars.

Colonel Nick Kitson, who commanded 3rd Battalion The Rifles in Sangin, Helmand province, and saw 13 of his soldiers killed during one tour of Afghanistan, also joined the Duke at the 83rd Field of Remembrance and stressed the importance of the Poppy Appeal in the wake of the row over England footballers wearing them.

He said: “One of our riflemen who was killed had a young daughter at home. She and her mother were the main carers for his parents and soon after he died they discovered the daughter had cerebral palsy.

“She was desperate for a bicycle, but it had to be specially adapted.

“With charitable donations, particularly from the Poppy Appeal, she got a bike and the pair were helped in looking after the rifleman’s parents.”

The Field of Remembrance includes hundreds of small wooden crosses planted in the Abbey grounds as a mark of respect to those who died fighting for their country. Each bears a message of commemoration.