Armed Forces Day 2016 will take place on Sunday 26th June, it has been announced.

The national event celebrates the role local servicemen and women have played in conflict and peacekeeping the world over.

It incorporates a march along Douglas’s promenades, which sees the public turn out in large numbers, a service of thanksgiving in the Villa Marina Royal Hall and an afternoon tea and evening of entertainment.

Many serving personnel return home as guests of honour at the event.

Armed Forces Day is organised by a committee comprising veterans of all the Island’s ex-service organisations and has the patronage of the Lieutenant Governor, the President of Tynwald and the Chief Minister.

Brigadier Norman Butler CBE, who chairs the committee, said: ‘2016 marks a decade of us holding Armed Forces Day in the Island and we hope as many people as possible will note the date in their diary and participate.

‘The event allows us to give thanks for the contribution made by our brave men and women in troubled parts of the world, both past and present.’

Photo - Armed Forces Day 2015.  Courtesy of John Caley.