FIRST World War heroes were honoured during a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony on Weymouth seafront.

Borough mayor Tim Munro and Portland town councillor Les Ames were among hundreds lining the Esplanade to honour Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops.

Also in the crowd to remember the war dead was Australian author and poet Anne McCosker-Buckley, who is the daughter of a First World War trooper.

Mrs McCosker-Buckley, originally from Queensland, discovered after moving to Weymouth in 2006 that her uncle was a serving Anzac soldier.

Since making the discovery, she has been working with Mr Ames and historian Alvin Hopper, also at the ceremony, on setting up a website dedicated to local Anzac troops called Anzacs in Weymouth.

She said: “This year was the first Anzac service that I have been able to attend in the town and I have to say I thought it was marvellous.

Last year I was at Flanders in Belgium for a memorial service there but it wasn’t the same.

“The memorial in Flanders had been arranged by the Australian embassy and seemed to be a bit more theatrical – in fact it felt like the relatives had been shoved to one side to an extent. But the Weymouth memorial was very sincere and very moving and I must admit that I was in tears by the end of it.”

The memorial began with a parade on the seafront, followed by prayers and readings for the servicemen and the laying of wreaths at the seafront cenotaph.

Among the crowd were veterans of conflicts in Korea and another of the Battle of Britain.

Mrs McCosker-Buckley added: “There were a lot of wonderful people there and the memorial itself is in a beautiful location. It made me feel rather humbled and it was very moving.”