Veterans and service personnel will be joined by dignitaries and residents at remembrance services as Britain pays respect to those who died fighting for their country.

This year is particularly poignant, marking the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele during the First World War, and thousands are expected to gather in memory of the fallen at parades and services around north Kent on Saturday and Sunday.

In Gravesend, a two-minute silence will be led by the Gravesham mayor Cllr Harold Craske at the Old Town Hall and market area on Saturday, from 10.45am by the columns.

Royal British Legion Standard, Sea Cadets, Gads Hill School Army Cadets, the mayor and mayoress, deputy mayor and civic chaplain Rev Littlewood will gather to mark the silence at 11am.

There will be prayers and a few words by the mayor and chaplain, followed by the national anthem.

The mayor will then lay a wreath at the Huggins Memorial Board at the main entrance of the Old Town Hall.

The annual Remembrance Sunday service will be held on Sunday at the Windmill Hill Memorial Gardens, Gravesend.

Council representatives, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, will pause to remember those fallen in conflicts past and present.

The service will start with a cannon fired to mark the start of a two-minutes silence. Another cannon will then signify the end of the silence. There will be prayers, hymns and music, and wreaths will be laid.

A knitted carpet of poppies, made by the community, will be on display to mark those who fought for our freedom during the two world wars.

It also signifies those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts.

The poppy carpet will be moved to Gravesend Borough Market and be on display from Monday until next Friday.

Dartford’s service of remembrance will take place at 10.40am at the War Memorial in Central Park on Sunday, followed by a march past by veterans and youth organisations from the High Street and along Market Street past the War Memorial.

The High Street and Market Street will be closed to traffic from 10.15am to allow the service and parade to take place, and roads will not re-open until the event has concluded at around midday.

Elsewhere in the country, Prince Charles will lead the nation on Remembrance Sunday in commemorating Britain’s war dead, laying a wreath of red poppies at the Cenotaph memorial in Whitehall, as the Queen looks on.

The Royal British Legion will host the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday to commemorate all those who have lost their lives in conflicts.