FROM tiny toddlers to World War veterans, communities joined together to pay their respects to fallen heroes at Armistice Day events across the region.

In Wingate, east Durham, World War II veteran Alec Wigham was given a hero’s welcome at the nursery school his great-grandson attends.

Mr Wigham, 96, served with the Green Howards, and took part in the Normandy landings on D-Day.

He joined youngsters from Wingate Community Nursery School who observed a minute of silence at the war memorial at 11am on Monday.

Mr Wigham, who was called up in 1941, showed pupils his uniform, war medals and pictures of him as a soldier.

He also chatted to his great-grandson, Alex Woodhouse, two, who attends the nursery and is named after him.

Alex’s mother, Amanda Wigham, said: “When he first joined up they asked him to drive a truck to Germany and he said: ‘No bother’.

“He had never driven before in his life. He just got in and drove a big lorry full of troops.

“He was on the beach on D-Day. He remembers being on the big boat and he remembers being on the beach firing. But he cannot remember getting off the boat.

“It must have been so traumatic that he has blocked that bit out of his mind.”

Mr Wigham was born in Thornley, the son of a miner, and married Joan, who died in August, and the couple had a son, three grandchildren, four great grandchildren and two great, great grandchildren.

Mr Wigham, who became a Sergeant in the army and now lives in Devine Care Home in Station Town, said: “I was 18 when I was called up so I had to go.

“If you did not you went to prison. They gave you a cardboard box and told you put your clothes in there and they sent them home.

“It was alright. You did not think about it really. You just accepted that you were in the army and put the uniform on.

“You just did as you were told. If a man with three stripes on his arm told you to do something you did it.

“I have enjoyed my visit here to the nursery. You cannot come into a place like and not be happy with all of the toddlers here.

“But is important that they learn about what happened.”

Children at the nursery enjoyed poppy-themed fairy cakes, presented Mr Wigham with a painting of poppies.

Meanwhile, the Education Village in Darlington welcomed two brothers, who served in the SAS.

Retired SAS officer Peter Newton and his medic brother David joined pupils in paying tribute to those who fell in conflict - including their younger sibling, former Haughton schoolboy John Newton.

John, an SAS corporal, died alongside 20 comrades during the Falklands Campaign aged just 22. His unit had been ‘cross-decking’ in a Sea King helicopter from HMS Hermes to the troop carrier Intrepid when it crashed into the South Atlantic. Official reports blamed the crash on a large seabird being sucked into the engine air-intake.

Shortly after a plaque was hung on the wall of the old Haughton School. Today it takes pride of place in the main thoroughfare of the Education Village, which is home to Haughton, Springfield and Beaumont Hill academies.

Every year pupils pay tribute to those who died as a result of conflict but for the first time this year Cpl Newton’s family attended the service and parade, organised by acting head of year Adele Norris.

Peter Newton said: “We didn’t realise that the school marked John’s death every year. We were very impressed that his old school hung a plaque so quickly after he died and it is great to see it there on the walls of the Education Village.”

David Newton added: “It is good that the younger generations remember and appreciate what has gone on in the past.”

EVAT Chief Executive Mike Butler said: “We were so pleased that the Newtons could join us for our parade, a ceremony upon which we place a great deal of emphasis. It is crucial that none of us ever forgets the sacrifices made by John and so many others in the service of this country.”

For Cadet Corporal Ellie Armstrong the event was both moving and inspirational. “It is incredible to think that three brothers from Darlington all served in our country’s most elite regiment and this has left me truly inspired,” she said.

Over at Barnard Castle School, all pupils and staff came together to remember the 204 old boys and masters who went to war and never returned.

The names of all the 204 were read out by pupils as the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) honoured fallen comrades.

Poppy wreaths and crosses were laid outside the school chapel in memory of all those lost.

Headmaster Tony Jackson said: “We must always take the time, no matter how fleeting, to pay homage to those who came before us and made the ultimate sacrifice to do what they believed was right, and to give those that followed them a future.”

Among the guests was Colonel Ian Greaves, a serving officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is an A&E consultant at James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough.

He was accompanied by sons Tom, 20, who is a reservist in the 5th Battalion Fusiliers, which he will join full-time on graduation from university, and Owen, 17, who is Regimental Sergeant Major of the school’s CCF and also hopes the follow the family’s army tradition.

In Wolsingham, cadets took part in Wolsingham School's service which was also attended by local residents.