AS the war memorial glinted in the midday sunshine, so did Richard Tetlow and Archie Kiddy's war medals.
The two veterans made the short journey from their homes in Wilford to the Victoria Embankment to visit the historic monument this week.
But while the site will be surrounded by thousands of well-wishers and Services personnel today, they were alone with only their thoughts for company.
For 101-year-old Mr Tetlow, memories of living through both world wars sprung to mind.
Having been born in April 1912 in the same week the Titanic sank, he grew up in Glapton Street, The Meadows, the fourth of eight children.
Mr Tetlow, now of Wilford Lane, said: "We lived at number 14. The Sergeant Major also lived across the road. When I was about five he used to march the men up and down the road, and I used to run behind them.
"One of my uncles was in the First World War. I remember there was a party in Glapton Road and the streets running off it when it ended in 1918."
As soldiers and police passed nearby, Mr Tetlow recounted his own experience of combat.
In 1940 aged 28, he signed up with the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) based in Mansfield. He was trained how to ride a Matchless 500 motorbike and deployed as a dispatch rider, delivering messages between HQ and the troops during the Second World War.
He said: "We were bombed in the convoy on the way to Africa. When we arrived in Algeria we were bombed, and also in Tunisia.
"I was attached to a patrol unit and had to deliver messages to them from HQ."
Mr Tetlow was stationed near Milan when he heard the news that the Second World War had ended in 1945.
He said: "There was dancing in the streets. We were pleased as we were ready to go home."
He came out of the Army in 1946 and went on to spend 40 years working with Nottingham City Transport.
Of Armed Forces Day, he said: "If Hitler had taken over we would have been in a proper mess. The people of Nottingham should do us proud and turn out."
Mr Kiddy, meanwhile, survived four years as a prisoner of war.
The 95-year-old, who grew up in St Ann's and lives in Launceston Crescent, was taken captive after the Halifax bomber he was flying was shot down over Holland in July 1941.
He had piloted the plane on two successful bombing runs over Germany days before.
Mr Kiddy said: "We were on the way back when we were attacked by a night-fighter.
"The next thing I remember was a tremendous bang, tracer bullets flying past my legs and the plane catching fire. I remember floating down in a parachute and seeing the bomber crash into the ground. It demolished a house and killed four people."
Three of the seven crew died, while Mr Kiddy and the other three were taken captive. He spent four years as a prisoner of war in various camps across Holland and Germany, until escaping in February 1945.
"They didn't treat us that bad," he said. "But I remember being very cold and hungry. I had learned German at school and used to chat with the guards."
Of the moment he escaped, Mr Kiddy added: "The Germans would march us towards the towers and one day it came under machine gun fire. We all ran into the hedge and into the fields. When it was over the guards didn't bother to do a head count and we stayed hidden in some woods for a couple of days. We then heard firing again and it was the British coming.
"The first thing I did when I got back home was to ring my wife, Vera."
Mr Kiddy left the RAF when the war ended in 1945, and went on to work in insurance.
The veteran called on people to show their support for past and present troops.
He said: "I think the Forces have been forgotten. I don't think some people realise how grateful they should be."
Friend and city councillor Roger Steel accompanied the two veterans on a visit to see the memorial ahead.
He said: "These gallant gents have protected us all from tyranny and given us many years of peace, for which we owe them all a great debt of gratitude."
