A REMEMBRANCE service will be held to honour those who lost their lives at war.

Veterans will gather on Sunday for the Loyal Service of Remembrance, to recognise more than 1,000 Bolton Loyals who were killed in the First World War.

Veterans will meet at Queens Park war memorial, in Chorley New Road, opposite Shaw & Son Funeral Directors, at 10.45am for an 11am start, and a wreath will be laid.

Frank Heron, who did his national service with the Loyals, said: “All veterans are welcome to join us if you have lost a friend through war, or know anyone who has suffered trauma.

“These services were commenced a few years ago after the war memorial was vandalised. This will be the fifth service we have held. There are more than 1,000 names on the war memorial. When it was vandalised, we discovered that the names on the war memorial are nearly all Loyals.”

The service coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Third Battle of Ypres, named the Battle of Passchendaele Ridge. The battle, which took place between July 30, and November 6, 1917, in Ypres, Belgium, was one of the bleakest of the First World War. Up to 310,000 Allied soldiers, including men from Bolton, and 260,000 German soldiers, lost their lives.