THOUSANDS of war veterans paid tribute to fallen comrades at Remembrance Day services across the region yesterday.

Those who gave their lives were remembered on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month - the first time since 1990 that Remembrance Sunday coincided with Armistice Day when the guns fell silent at 11 o'clock on the morning of November 11, 1918.

As the region paid its respects at scores of ceremonies, the Queen led the nation in remembrance at The Cenotaph, in London's Whitehall.

At churches, war memorials and parades across the North-East, veterans and relatives joined civic dignitaries to lay wreathes and pay silent respects.

Servicemen past and present turned out in Darlington for two big marches.

The first march, yesterday morning, followed a service at Holy Trinity Church, in Woodland Road, and went from Vane Terrace to the cenotaph in the Memorial Gardens, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony and the Last Post.

"We had a good turnout, quite a big contingent," said Dennis Frankland, chairman of the Royal British Legion's Darlington branch.

In the afternoon, many of the same people attended a second march from West Cemetery to the War Graves cenotaph for a service, wreath-laying and bugle playing.

In Durham Cathedral, hundreds packed in for the Remembrance Sunday Service.

Members of the armed and voluntary services, including many veterans, were joined by members of the public from across the diocese for the 45-minute service, culminating in the two-minute silence.

A wreath-laying ceremony, under the RAF window, followed the silence, before members of the services took part in a parade from Palace Green, led by the band of the Territorial Army's Tyne-Tees Regiment.

Meanwhile, according to tradition, Remembrance Day came early at one cenotaph.

In the heyday of Smith's Dock, in Normanby, Teesside, men could earn up to double their normal day's wage by working on Sundays.

So, after the 1939-45 war, Sir Eustace Smith, head of the firm and founder of the adjacent Smith's Dock Park, which contains a war memorial, moved the Remembrance Day service to Saturday.

The tradition stuck, and Normanby residents have marked the occasion a day early ever since.

More than 500 people brought Shildon town centre to a standstill as they joined the parade.

The event started at the bus station before making its way down Church Street to the cenotaph, where Father Raymond Cuthbertson led the service.

The Union flag was carried by Brian Ellis in honour of the work he has done for the Scouts in the town over the years, and the Salvation Army Band joined the service.

This was followed by a small and poignant service at nearby Middridge Village at noon.

Father Cuthbertson praised the turnout at both venues, saying it was the largest attendance he had seen in Shildon.

Chief whip Hilary Armstrong joined the community of Crook, in Weardale, yesterday afternoon for its service, starting with a parade from North House Surgery to St Catherine's Church.

Norman Smith, secretary of the town's Royal British Legion, praised the turnout