Remembrance Sunday: 'Immense honour' for Portsmouth sailor as he led Royal Navy parade at Cenotaph in London

Immense pride beamed from a Portsmouth-based Royal Navy sailor as he played a vital role in Remembrance commemorations in London.

Lieutenant Commander Dan Hill led the force’s detachment at the Cenotaph. Having previously played an important part in the Laying Up of the Queen’s Colours, he took charge of the sailors after they completed their training at HMS Excellent on Whale Island.

Speaking ahead of today’s service (November 8), Lt Cdr Hill, who lives in Portchester, said: “It’s an immense honour and pride to be here representing my family, members of the Armed Forces, especially the Royal Navy. I’ve served 23 years and this is my first time at the Cenotaph in London.

“It’s just a period of reflection, not just on my own service, but the service of all those people who came before me. And not only those who laid down their lives ultimately, but those who have come back from wars and conflicts with either mental or physical scars.”

Lt Cdr Hill is from a strong military family, with his father joining the RAF when he was 16 in 1940 and serving during the Second World War. The sailor has been deployed Baltic, Persian Gulf and High North.

One of his most significant roles was First Lieutenant aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, helping oversee the operational performance, security and welfare of a ship’s company of around 1,600 people. More than 860 members of the Armed Forces were on parade at the Cenotaph, including musicians, marshals, those forming the Guards of Honour and those firing the Minute Guns.

Defence secretary Wes Streeting said: “I grew up with my grandfather and great-grandfather’s war medals proudly on display in our living room. So, defence runs in my blood, just as it does for so many families.

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“And I think that’s why Remembrance events bring us together as a nation unlike anything else. Nearly all of us have a connection to someone who has served and some of us have friends or family who made the ultimate sacrifice.

“It is a privilege to honour them, to remember the Fallen and to think of them as still on duty, reminding us that peace is hard won – and even harder to preserve.

“That is why I also want pay tribute to our Armed Forces serving today, to thank them for defending freedom and keeping us safe. We owe them our support, our gratitude, and our admiration, just as we reflect on the sacrifice of those who died. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”