ONLY the sound of the breeze rustling the golden autum leaves could be heard as Eastleigh paused to remember those who never came back from the bloody battlefields.

The town's traditional Remembrance Sunday service got off to a quick pace as The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Army Cadet Band, resplendent in their red tunics, led a parade through the streets to the Leigh Road Recreation Ground.

Here veterans with their medals glinting in the brilliant sunshine stood alongside a younger generation that fortunately had never known the horrors of war.

They reflected on those who had not only died in two World Wars but those who were still paying the price for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Mayor's Chaplain, the Reverend Val Corcoran captured the mood of the occasion when she asked for everyone to pray for all those who had died in the violence of war.

Hundreds of heads were bowed across the recreation ground, carpeted with golden leaves, for the two-minute silence.

John Campbell played the Pipers Lament and this was followed by The Royal British Legion exhortation delivered by local branch chairman Norman Brown.

Royal British Legion members led a wide cross section of the community as they filed towards the memorial to reverently lay poppy tributes on the memorial.

l There were also Remembrance Day services at St Edward's Church, Netley Abbey, St Boniface Church, Chandler's Ford, and at the military cemetery at Netley's Royal Victoria Country Park.