A special parade to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who fought in the Battle of Britain is to take place in Sale this weekend.

Trafford Council is to host the event to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Britain at 10.30am on Sunday, September 15 at Sale Town Hall, including a parade to Sale War Memorial.

During the service, a bugler will play the last post and there will be a two minutes’ silence, with cadets from across Trafford and Greater Manchester set to stage a commemorative ‘Drumhead Altar’ to pay their own tributes.

The event will be attended by the Mayor of Trafford Cllr Amy Whyte and Council Leader Cllr Tom Ross, as well as the Council’s Chief Executive Sara Todd and Eamonn O’Neill, the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, also set to be in attendance.

Cllr Judith Lloyd, Trafford Council’s Armed Forces Champion, said: “It will be a massive honour to again pay tribute to all those who bravely fought in the Battle of Britain. The battle was a turning point in World War II - if the RAF had not held off the Luftwaffe, Hitler would have moved forward with his planned invasion of the UK.

“We will pay tribute to those very brave pilots who took to the sky with no thought of their own safety. We will also commemorate all the other servicemen and women who took part in the battle by supporting the pilots. More than 300 RAF personnel were killed on the ground on Battle of Britain day.

“We can never underestimate how important this victory was for all of our freedoms. We will never forget those who fought so hard to save us from the Nazis.”

The Battle of Britain took place in the summer and autumn of 1940 during World War II.

It was the first battle in history fought solely in the air with Britain’s RAF helped by allies from across the world to defeat the German air force.

On September 15, 1940, the Luftwaffe launched a massive assault in the skies over Britain, however it became a decisive defeat for the Luftwaffe, and since then this date has been celebrated as ‘Battle of Britain Day’.