THE FOREST Church at Drybrook was full on Sunday for a special service commemorating the First World War.

The service remembered in particular the part played by the Gloucestershire Regiment in the Battle of Mons, one of the first large battles of the conflict.

Rev Nick Bromfield welcomed representatives of two county regimental associations, a standard bearer from the British Legion and a representative of Gloucestershire-based 1 Rifles.

A bugler played to announce two minutes' silence for those who did not return home.

Rev Bromfield said: "The church is decorated with a First World War theme this week and there is a moving exhibition in the schoolroom featuring the stories of local men who went off to war in 1914.

"They include some who lived in the same houses as current parishioners – the realisation of which was particularly moving."