The Solent celebrates military heroes and supports families at events

VETERANS Paul Morgan with his Willys Jeep meets veteran George Hunt who served in Royal Army Ordinance Corp

As a part of Armed Forces Day many turned out at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard to greet those who have fought for the nation.

Throughout the dockyard veterans and cadets wandered around and enjoyed tea at the Veterans Tea Tent run by the Georgian Tearooms including ex-serviceman George Hunt, 82, from Southsea.

He said: ‘I come here every year for Armed Forces Day to meet other ex-servicemen and it is special to me.’

Veteran of the arctic convoys, Tony Snelling, 92, at

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Picture: Allan Hutchings (151130-068 — Veteran of the arctic convoys, Tony Snelling, 92, at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Picture: Allan Hutchings (151130-068

Many were thrilled to meet members of the armed forces at the dockyard to thank them for their bravery.

Debbie Suffield, 35, from Southsea said: ‘We should be proud of our history and our forces.

‘Many of the servicemen from the Second World War will not be around soon so their stories should be told.’

The old and the young visited the attraction to enjoy the variety of music that was on offer including the Rose & Thistle Pipe Band and the Royal Marines School of Music. As a part of the event the Mexican Tall Ship ARM Cuauhtemoc was allowing visitors on board and talk to the sailors.

Harry Robinson, six,on the way to becoming a Minion

Picture: Malcolm Wells (150627-5219) — Harry Robinson, six,on the way to becoming a Minion Picture: Malcolm Wells (150627-5219)

Head of public events Roger Sheppard said: ‘It was a coincidence that the ship is here as part of our Armed Forces Weekend but the ship’s company were very keen for the public to see it.’

Also on show was a variety of vintage jeeps from World War Two with an array of items on display to tell tales of wartime.

Youngsters, teachers and their families also came together at Gomer Junior School, Gosport to support military families.

Organised by Friends of Gomer Junior School the event followed a services lunch that was held at the school earlier in the week.

Chairwoman of FROGJS Elodie Gardner said: ‘Being in this part of the country we have a lot of services families – about 30 children in the school have a parent in the forces.

‘We wanted to show that we support them as sometimes service families do need a little bit more support.’

At the military recognition show parents rallied together to compete in a tug-of-war competition.

‘We also had Chelsea Football Club here who are the people that run our after-school club teaching the pupils football skills,’ said headteacher Georgia Mulhall.

The proceeds from the event have helped the school buy a bike shed.