SEVEN Isle of Wight branches of the Royal British Legion will be attending the Great Pilgrimage 90 (GP90) — a tour to First World War battlefields and cemeteries in France and Belgium next month.

Member of County, Cowes, Ryde, Shanklin, Newport, Ventnor and Brighstone will be commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Great Pilgrimage which took place a decade after the end of war.

Then, veterans and war widows visited the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres before marching to the Menin Gate in Ypres on August 8, 1928.

It will be the legion's biggest membership event in its history with 1,164 wreath layers and standard bearers from all over the world attending.

Brighstone will be represented by welfare officer Pearl Adams and standard bearer Charlotte Atkinson, whose father, Peter, will also be there as county standard bearer.

Pearl said: "I brought our wreath into Brighstone school to show the children and gave them a talk about the event.

"Our card on the wreath will have the Patrick O'Donnell quote 'When you go home tonight tell them of us, and say for your tomorrow, we gave our today'.

"The school dedication then reads: 'From all the children and staff at Brighstone CofE Primary School. Love. Courage. Respect."

Local legion members, Dave Greenwood and Terry Clarkson, branch chairman, will represent the Ryde branch and the local community at the event, as standard bearer and wreath layer.

Year 6 pupils at Greenmount Primary school, Ryde, have also entered a competition to write their sentiments on the card that accompanies the wreath to the Menin Gate.

These will be judged on Monday by the mayor and deputy mayor of Ryde.

Mr Clarkson said: “Great Pilgrimage 90 is a unique opportunity for the legion community to come together and bear our standards along the same route in Ypres taken 90 years earlier by the veterans and widows of the First World War. The Ryde branch looks forward to proudly representing Ryde at the event.”

The visit finishes on August 8 with a parade to the Menin Gate, where a wreath from each branch will be placed on the memorial.

A march past will then take place, observed by civic and military guests from the UK, Europe and Commonwealth countries.