Poppies remain a potent symbol of remembrance

Remembrance Sunday began in Cardiff with a march of service contingents, bands and ex-soldiers from the Welsh Assembly buildings in the centre of the city to the war memorial in Cathays Park.

Lord Mayor Russell Goodway was also present while Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan was attending a service at Llandaff Cathedral nearby.

Ypres remembers

But the name of one Welsh veteran will be on European lips on Sunday.

Elwyn Davies from Narberth, Pembrokeshire, will be remembered at Ypres in Belgium, where townsfolk sound the Last Post every day to remember those who fought for their freedom.

To mark the 25,000th sounding this year, the Last Post Committee decided to read the name of a fallen soldier every day on the anniversary of his death.

It is important for children to know these are not just names on a monument

Narberth Museum curator, Pauline Griffiths

On Sunday, it is the turn of butcher-turned-fighter Private Davies, who died exactly 84 years ago, aged just 22.

Narbaerth Museum worker Mary Jones, who put the soldier's name forward to the Belgium committee, said: "I decided it would be quite good to look at the stories behind the names on the war memorial here."

Museum curator Pauline Griffiths said: "It is important for the children near here to know that these are not just names on a monument.

"They might not have wanted to go to fight in France but they did, and it was as much a sacrifice for them as it would be for young men in Narberth today."

Private Davies' great niece, Tegwyn Burns, will be at the ceremony in Ypres.

The Queen led UK tributes at London's Cenotaph

Closer to home, there will also be services in towns including Burry Port, Cwmbran, Pontnewydd, Panteg, Pontypool and Blaenavon.

As military action continues in Afghanistan, however, attentions are sure to turn to the deaths in the 11 September terrorist attacks and to loss of lives further afield.

Swansea MP Alan Williams urged religious leaders last week to set aside Remembrance Sunday plans to call for peace and harmony on multi-racial grounds.

He tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling for a "weekend of prayer for peace" which would include Remembrance Sunday, the Jewish Sabbath on Saturday and the Muslim holy day on Friday.