EX-SERVICEMEN from Otley have joined thousands of Royal British Legion members for a mass parade in Belgium.

Adrian Waites and James Gould represented the town in The Great Pilgrimage 90 - an occasion the Legion has hailed as one of the biggest in its history.

GP90 saw Legion members from across the UK visiting World War One battlefield and graveyard sites in France and Belgium in memory of the original Great Pilgrimage, undertaken by veterans and war widows, of 1928.

The 2018 event's highlight was a commemorative march to the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, on Wednesday, August 8 that featured more than 2,000 Legion members.

They carried their branches' standards along with wreaths and 1,100 flags representing the 11,000 original pilgrims who had marched on the same date 90 years ago.

August 8 was the 100th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Amiens - the opening phase of an Allied offensive in France that ultimately led to the end of the war.

Mr Gould, who served with the Tank Regiment, carried a wreath for the Otley branch of the Royal British Legion in the parade.

Ex-Light Infantryman Mr Waites, meanwhile, carried the branch's standard. He said: "It was absolutely fantastic and the camaraderie there was brilliant.

"There were coaches from all over Britain, each with its own tour guide, going across the channel on the boats for this.

"It was red hot when we got there and we visited the Somme on the Monday, and all the battlefields and graveyards, before visiting the Ypres Salient (the scene of some of the war's biggest battles) in Belgium on the Tuesday.

"For the parade at Ypres there must have been about two and a half thousand wreath and standard bearers, from branches all over the UK, taking part.

"The whole of the country was represented and we were proud to represent Otley."

Legion members have been less impressed, however, by the media's coverage of GP90.

They say that TV channels seemed to focus almost exclusively, instead, on the centenary service held at Amiens Cathedral on the same day.

That event, hosted by the UK Government in collaboration with the governments of Australia, Canada, France and the US, was in memory of those who fought in the Battle of Amiens.

Two thousand guests, including hundreds of descendants of the soldiers who had taken part, observed the ceremony inside the cathedral while another 1,200 watched from the cathedral's square.

The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William) and Prime Minister Theresa May were among the VIPs who attended.