THE town council’s memorial event was a roaring success when thousands of people came together on Saturday, September 29, in Stanhope Park to commemorate the end of the First?World War.

The park was full to capacity with marquees containing a huge range of different activities and displays for the ‘Holsworthy Remembers WW1 100 Years — in Memory of the Fallen and the Future of the Living’ event.

Among the main attractions was the UK’s only working WWI Bristol Scout Bi Plane. The aircraft was rebuilt be Theo Willford and David Bremner.

David’s grandfather flew a Bristol Scout during the war and kept a few items as souvenirs. David and his team spent seven years using those items to build the aircraft from home.

David said: “The controls (stick and rudder bar) and the magneto (that makes the spark for the engine) are my grandfather’s originals. So far as we know, these are the only original Bristol Scout airframe parts in the world.”

David said he is proud to be able to fly an aircraft once flown by his grandfather. He said: “Flying her on the Greek island of Thassos from the exact spot where grandad flew exactly 100 years afterwards was a huge privilege but rather nerve-wracking as the conditions were far from ideal.

“Flying her over the Somme on the centenary of the first day of the battle of the Somme was very, very moving, since my grandad’s cousin (another David Bremner) was fatally injured on that day.

“Flying her today at air displays is an enormous privilege and people love to see her — she is such a pretty aeroplane.”

On the day people were able to get up close and personal with the aircraft and learn more about its history. There was also an opportunity to get a real feel for the era with a dressing up stations, WWI vehicles and a Space Dome which projected a real life scene from inside the trenches.

Holsworthy mayor Cllr Jon Hutchings said: “A lot of hard work went into organising the event and I think it really paid off. The weather was on our side, we really couldn’t have asked for better weather actually!”

Cllr Hutchings said they estimated around 2,500 to 3,000 entered the event to pay respect and also learn more about the history of WWI.

He said: “I want to thank everyone who took part in anyway to make this such an amazing event. There were a lot of interesting things on offer and I personally learnt a lot, not just about the history of the area but generally about the war. I particularly enjoyed learning about the role of horses in the war but I think overall my favourite part was the fireworks — but that is probably because it signalled the end of the event which meant we had completed it without any problems!”