THOUSANDS of people lined St Giles in Oxford for Remembrance Sunday in one of the best turn-outs in recent memory.

Lord Mayor Elise Benjamin said the estimated crowd of more than 3,000 was one of the biggest supporting the fallen in recent years.

At the war memorial, where organisations from across the county laid poppy wreaths, City rector The Very Rev Bob Wilkes led the service containing the two-minute silence.

He said: “Current conflicts make so vivid and immediate our sense of the horror of war.

“We thank the Royal British Legion in their 90th year for their sustained support for servicemen in need and we remember those who are in the terror of conflict and those who have given their lives.”

Veteran soldiers took part in the parade to pay their respects to those who died in the two world wars and recent conflicts including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Graham Whelan, secretary of the Parachute Regiment in Oxford, who is parade marshal for servicemen lining Headley Way when troops are repatriated, said: “The public support is growing — they realise the war in Afghanistan is a young man’s war and their schoolmates who are dying.

“There are no World War One veterans left. World War Two veterans are fewer on the ground.”

Philip Wheeler, 86, who lives off Cowley Road, fought in Egypt and Palestine in the Second World War with the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. He said: “This is a special day because everyone is supporting each other.”

Dominic Fay, 61, of Abingdon Road, Oxford, said he was taking part in the “poignant occasion” to remember his grandson, Lieutenant Corporal Stephen McKee, 27, of the Royal Irish Regiment, who died in Helmand Province in Afghanistan in March when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb.

The former soldier, who served in the Parachute Regiment and Royal Irish Regiment, said: “I am very proud of my grandson and the sacrifice he made. We come from a soldiering family and we do what is required of us.”

Two helicopters from RAF Benson flew over St Giles at the end of the service.

In Banbury the Remembrance Day procession stretched for a quarter of a mile.

Dot Holloway, 63, of Wenrisc Drive, Minster Lovell, turned out for the event in the village where the roll of honour was read out and wreaths were laid.

She said: “We had 180 people. It was very poignant.”

Bicester’s remembrance ceremony was attended by more than 600 people, with many having to stand in St Edburg’s Church.

It was followed by a march past in Market Square by members of Bicester-based 23 Pioneer Regiment. Mayor Rose Stratford said: “Being a garrison town we feel very close to the army.”

Attendance at Witney was also high. Witney resident Alistair Young, previously a flight lieutenant in the RAF, took his eight-year-old daughter Sophie to the ceremony to remember his cousin Capt Andrew Griffiths, of 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, who died after being wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan in September 2010.

Mr Young said: “It was well attended and a lovely day. The streets were absolutely bulging and there was no spare space.”

Sophie added: “It was emotional but it was important to go to the ceremony.”

Hundreds of people took part in the Remembrance Day service in the Market Place in Wallingford.

Mayor Colin Dolton was the first to place a wreath on the memorial, followed by representatives from the armed forces, including staff from RAF Benson.

Following the two-minute silence there was a fly-past of two helicopters from the RAF base. Town councillor Lynda Atkins said: “The market place was jam-packed and what struck me was the wide age range of people attending.

“As well as veterans, there were lots of young people in the crowd and in the parade.”

In Didcot, a parade marched along Broadway to the civic hall for the service at 3pm in the garden of remembrance.

Mayor Phil Hayward said: “It was a phenomenal turn-out with hundreds of people taking part in the parade or watching.

“It was one of the biggest turn-outs for many years in Didcot and troops from 11 EOD Regiment who were there told me they really appreciated it.”

In Wantage, there was a service at the Church of SS Peter and Paul in the town centre. There were also services at Holy Trinity Church in Charlton, and at Grove airfield memorial.

Some 550 villagers attended the remembrance parade in Harwell opposite the War Memorial.

And Wytham All Saint's Church was honoured to hold a special service of remembrance, during which the standards of the old Wolvercote and Wytham branch of the Royal British Legion were laid up.