A CALL to arms is being made for people to support serving soldiers as they proudly march through Nuneaton town centre this weekend during a historic parade.
This Sunday will see the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who have seen action in the heat of Iraq and Afghanistan, receive the borough council's highest honour.
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council will bestow the greatest honour it can offer to a serving unit of the armed forces, the Freedom of Entry.
The soldiers, many of whom are from the borough, will receive the sacred scroll outside the Town Hall, which allows them to march through the town centre with bayonets fixed, drums beating and colours flying.
The Freedom of Entry is such a high accolade that it has only ever been awarded twice in the entire history of the borough, in 1972 to the Junior Leader’s Regiment and in 2002 to the 30th Signal Regiment.
This year is extra special as there will be a second Freedom of Entry granted to the Queen’s Ghurka Signals on Sunday, September 26.
But the ceremony on Sunday will be tinged with sadness as it comes almost a year after the regiment lost of its finest, Fusilier Louis Carter from Nuneaton and Sgt Simon Valentine from Bedworth, who tragically died on the front-line in Afghanistan.
It is for this reason that council bosses hope that people will turn out in their thousands to show their support and gratitude to the regiment, which used to be part of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment.
Leader of the council, councillor Dennis Harvey, said: "It will be a great honour to welcome the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers to the borough on Sunday and bestow the freedom of entry upon them. This really is a momentous occasion and one that I hope the residents of Nuneaton and Bedworth will turn out in great numbers for.
"We are expecting a strong turnout so I would encourage people to arrive in the town centre in good time."
The regiment will assemble outside the Salvation Army building in Dugdale Street and begin the march at 11.45am.
They will then head along Queens Road, through Market Place and will stop outside the town hall for the ceremony.
Standard bearers will stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside ex-Servicemen and women outside the United Reformed Church to mark the historic presentation, which will be made by Nuneaton and Bedworth's Mayor, councillor Don Navarro.
Once completed, the soldiers will circle around the roundabout next to the Council House and head back into town turning right towards Bridge Street, around past Bond Gate, up Newdegate Street, onto Abbey Street, turning left onto Stratford Street and back up Queens Road to where they began.
Motorists are being warned that there may be slight disruption to traffic in and around the town centre during the parade.
The roundabout next to the Council house and Ropewalk car park will be closed for five to10 minutes at approximately at 12:30pm, and the Queens Road entrance to the town centre from the Roanne Ringway will be closed between 11am until 12noon, and then from 12.30pm until 1.15pm.
