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Armed Forces Day (United Kingdom)

Armed Forces Day
AFD-2010 Primary.jpg
Official name Armed Forces Day
Observed by United Kingdom
Significance Celebration of the contributions, both past and present, of those who have served in the British Armed Forces
Observances Parades, silences, celebrations
Date so far on last Saturday of June
Frequency annual
Related to Remembrance Day

Armed Forces Day (formerly Veterans' Day) in the United Kingdom is an annual event celebrated in late June to commemorate the service of men and women in the British Armed Forces. Veterans' Day was first observed in 2006. Although an official event, it is not a public holiday in the UK. The name was changed to Armed Forces Day in 2009. Armed Forces Day has so far been observed on the last Saturday of June.

Plans for a Veterans' Day were announced in February 2006 by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, who said the aim was to ensure the contribution of veterans was never forgotten. The day is marked across the UK by local ceremonies and the presentation of medals to living ex-servicemen and women. The date of 27 June was chosen as it came the day after the anniversary of the first investiture of the Victoria Cross, in Hyde Park, London in 1857.

Veterans Day was created as a permanent extension of Veterans' Awareness Week first held in 2005. Armed Forces Day generally focuses on celebrating living current/ex servicemen & women, whereas Remembrance Day focuses on honouring the dead. Although it used to be called Veteran's Day in the UK, it is not the same as the United States' Veterans Day which is more similar to Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth.

On 25 June 2007, Jim Devine the Member of Parliament for Livingston, tabled a House of Commons Early Day Motion calling for the day to be a public holiday, stating "that this House recognises the outstanding contribution that veterans have made to the country; and believes that Veterans' Day should be a national public holiday across the United Kingdom."

The first Veterans' Day in 2006 saw a series of events across the UK which included an event at the Imperial War Museum in London, which was attended by Lachhiman Gurung VC, a Nepalese recipient of the Victoria Cross, which was awarded for bravery in 1945 when he was a Rifleman in the 4th Battalion of The 8th Gurkha Rifles, British Indian Army during World War II in Burma (Myanmar), and Corporal Christopher Finney GC of the Blues and Royals who was awarded the George Cross for bravery under friendly fire during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Parades were held in Dundee and Staffordshire as well as a service at Westminster Abbey. There was also an evening reception at 10 Downing Street for representatives of veterans associations.


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