THE Royal Anglian Regiment will be doubly honoured in Ely on Sunday - when soldiers who lost their lives since 1945 will be remembered; and an updated scroll to mark the Regiment’s Freedom of the City will be presented.

Both events will take place during the Cambridgeshire Regiment Association annual service and parade; the service begins at 2pm; with music provided by the City of Ely Military Band.

Members of the public are invited to come along to watch the colourful proceedings, which will include a salute taken by the Colonel of the Regiment, and the beating of the retreat by army cadets.

A leather bound roll of honour book, to commemorate fallen members of The East Anglian and Royal Anglian Regiments will be dedicated during the service. It will be kept outside the regimental chapel in the cathedral, and will provide a lasting memorial to those who gave their lives in many conflicts since the end of the World War II.

After the service, a parade will form up behind the Cathedral, and march to nearby Cross Green. Members of the Cambridgeshire and Royal Anglian Regiment Association will be joined by serving soldiers from D (Cambridgeshire) Company of the Royal Anglian Regiment, along with cadets from the Cambridgeshire Army Cadet Force.

The salute will be taken by the Colonel of the Regiment, General Sir John McColl KCB, CBE, DESO; accompanied by the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Richard Barnwell, and the Mayor of Ely.

Once the parade has disbanded, personnel will move to the Hayward Theatre, where at 4pm the Mayor will present a scroll to mark the Freedom of the City of Ely to the Royal Anglian Regiment.

The Freedom was originally granted to the Cambridgeshire Regiment, and subsequently in 1977 to the 6th Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, a Territorial Battalion.

The updated scroll to be presented to the Regiment on Sunday will reaffirm the close links between the city and its local infantry regiment.

To complete the day’s ceremonies, Cambridgeshire army Cadet Force Corps of Drums will beat the retreat outside the Hayward Theatre.

Major Dick Gould (Retd), Assistant Regimental Secretary of The Royal Anglian Regiment said: “The Royal Anglian Regiment is deeply honoured and proud to receive the Freedom of the City of Ely. It is a confirmation of the strong historical links between the city and the Regiment which go back to our predecessors, the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Regiments. We carry on their traditions and standards and are most grateful for this recognition which the Freedom confers.”

Timetable of events

1.45pm: Assemble in Ely Cathedral

2.00pm: Cathedral service

3.00pm: Parade on Cross Green

3.30pm: Tea in Hayward Theatre (members and parade members only)

4.00pm: Presentation of the scroll

4.15pm: Cadet force, beating the retreat

5.00pm: End of formal ceremony