THE Archbishop of Canterbury marked Remembrance Sunday at Britain’s biggest Army base.

Dr Rowan Williams gave the address at the Garrison Memorial Church, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, yesterday.

Meanwhile, a two-minute silence and military parade through the streets of nearby Richmond had added poignancy following the death of Sergeant Phillip Scott in Afghanistan on Thursday. He was born and brought up in the area.

At Catterick Garrison, more than 400 personnel and their families attended the service.

Dr Williams, who made no mention of the latest British deaths in Afghanistan, told the congregation: “It’s not just that we are connected with those we know and love who are labouring, suffering and taking risks elsewhere in the world. It’s not just that we’re connected by affection, family bonds and so forth.

“It is also the case that the courage, the sacrifice, the risk taking and the generosity that go on elsewhere in situations of extreme risk, it somehow feeds the rest of us. It somehow keeps the rest of us alive.”

Wreaths were laid during the service and a lone trumpeter from the Yorkshire Regiment’s Territorial Army band, based in Huddersfield, played the Last Post before a two-minute silence.

After the hour-long service, Dr Williams met representatives from units based at Catterick.

Brigadier Richard Felton, commander of 4 Mechanised Brigade, said: “I think the last few years have been significant and all of us here either know people who have been wounded or killed recently on operations. So it’s of particular significance for us as we’re also training for operations.”

In Richmond, while Sgt Scott was not mentioned during the service, the chairman of the town’s branch of the Royal British Legion, Major Laurence Lines, paid tribute to the British servicemen who have died in the past week, telling the assembled crowds about the need to support the men and women in the Armed Forces.

Padre Simon Rose, of the 1st Battalion Duke of Lancaster Regiment, who led the service in St Mary’s Church before the parade, said: “In a town like this, everyone knows someone who is affected by the war in Afghanistan.”

A new war memorial was dedicated as part of the Remembrance service in West Auckland, County Durham, where 108 servicemen and women have died during conflicts since the First World War.

The community had worked for more than five years on a project to transform the village green around a disused water fountain into a memorial garden which features a stone plinth bearing the names of those lost at war.

Hazel Charlton, chairwoman of West Auckland Parish Council, said: “It was fantastic that everyone turned out for this special day.”

The jets of 100 squadron, based at RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire, flew over Sunderland’s war memorial in Burdon Road yesterday as part of the Remembrance service.

More than 40 serving members of the Armed Forces and 200 members of the emergency services joined about 200 veterans for the service, believed to be the biggest outside of London.

Arthur Lockyear, one of the organisers, said: “We couldn’t believe how well it went and when the jets came over, it sent a frisson down the spine.”

In Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, the Remembrance Day duties were shared between 102 Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and 201 Field Hospital, which both have armouries in the town.