MORE than a hundred people gathered in the November gloom for the Armistice Day two-minute silence at the cenotaph in Keighley's Town Hall Square.

War veterans, Keighley town councillors and other members of the public were among the crowd yesterday. (Tuesday)

Shortly before the two-minute silence they were addressed by Keighley town mayor Coun Graham Mitchell. He was accompanied by Keighley Royal British Legion chairman Kathrine Roberts, who is also a councillor

Coun Mitchell said: "We are here this morning on Armistice Day without the bands, without the standard, without the ceremony.

"We are here to pay our very personal homage and remembrance to those of us who died, who fell in the two great wars and many other conflicts.

"As we gather today let us remember those of our family and friends and the many hundreds and thousands of us who did not return.

"And also we remember those of us who have returned but in a damaged condition. Let us pray for them."

Speaking after the silence, Coun Mitchell, who was wearing the medals his father had received after serving as a military policeman in Europe during the Second World War, said he was pleased with how many people had attended the event.

"People were saying thank you to me as they left the square, so it means a lot to have been able to lead an occasion like this," he said.