CROSSES remembering those who gave their lives for Britain were laid at a memorial garden in Haverfordwest on Monday (November 4).

The dedication ceremony at the Cenotaph on Salutation Square began with a blessing from Canon Jeffrey Gwyther of St Davids Church, Prendergast.

He asked that ‘those who cared not for their own lives, but those of their friends’ always be remembered, and prayed for peace in our time.

Cllr Arwyn Williams, chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council, laid the first cross, followed by Mayor of Haverfordwest Jackie Westrup, Deputy Mayor Roy Thomas, Sheriff Barbara Morgan and other guests, and members of the Haverfordwest branch of the Royal British Legion.

The small wooden crosses, decorated with red poppies, bore messages in memory of family and friends who never returned from the battlefield.

Among them were dedications to loved ones killed in the First and Second World Wars, as well as in ongoing conflicts.

Standard bearer for the ceremony was Legion member and former Second Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Francis Jenkins, of Haverfordwest.

“We do it for all the members of the armed forces who have paid with the ultimate sacrifice – if they hadn’t made those sacrifices, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Ken Humphreys, chairman of the Legion’s Haverfordwest branch.

“People should keep tradition alive, and that includes ongoing conflicts.”

He said the Cenotaph was an important place for those who had lost loved ones to conflict.

“You come down here at any time of year and people will have laid crosses.”

A remembrance service will take place at the Cenotaph on Sunday, November 10, at 10.55am.

“I hope to see a lot of people coming down, standing shoulder to shoulder with us,” Mr Humphreys.

According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces were killed in the two World Wars.