Battle of Britain Remembrance Service takes place at Barker's Pool in Sheffield

RAF Air Cadets, officers and non-commissioned officers lined the steps of City Hall for the short service, which began at 3.30pm and was attended by around 150 members of the public as well as representatives from the Sheffield branch of the Royal Corps of Signals, the Royal Air Forces Association Sheffield branch and the Royal Navy Submarine Service.

Silence fell over the square before the Last Post rang out and wreaths were laid at the Sheffield War Memorial.

A commemoration takes place in the city every year on the first Sunday after the anniversary of the Battle of Britain Day on September 15, 1940, which is seen as a turning point in the battle between Britain and Germany’s air forces during the Second World War.

A smaller commemorative service took place at Sheffield Cathedral at 4pm following the larger event.

Those in attendance included the deputy lieutenant for South Yorkshire Charles Turner, Sheffield City Council’s lord mayor Gail Smith, high sheriff Martin McKervey and South Yorkshire’s police & crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings.

Retired RAF squadron leader Barry Darwin, who is now honorary secretary of the Sheffield Royal Air Forces Association, told the service: “I salute the young men and women we see here today in the uniform of the RAF Air Cadets. They know they have a rich heritage to follow.

"May they never have to give of themselves the enthusiasm, dedication and skill that their forbears had to in 1940 against a tyranny we hope will never again raise it’s ugly head.”