A SPECIAL service and march was held through Liverpool city centre as part of the first British Armed Forces Day celebrations.

Civic dignitaries, members of the armed forces and veterans attended a service at Liverpool Parish Church, Our Lady and St Nicholas, before a march by armed forces personnel, cadets and veterans to the Town Hall, where they attended a specially organised civic reception.

The Lord Mayor, Cllr Mike Storey, took the official salute outside the Town Hall.

The event was organised to show the city’s support for the men and women who make up the armed forces community, as well as those who serve in the Merchant Navy.

Among those present was 100-year-old George Cross, who survived the D-Day landings and who has had an apartment block in his native Toxteth named after him.

Liverpool city council leader Warren Bradley, who attended Saturday’s event with his family, said: “It was quite moving to see young and old, both serving personnel and veterans, interacting.

“It is always important that we recognise the soldiers and armed service personnel who enabled us to live in a free society, such as the people involved in the Normandy landings.”