On a scorching hot Sunday hundreds of wellwishers turned up at Wormelow Tump to celebrate the 100th anniversary of wartime heroine Violette Szabo.

A parade from the Park in Wormelow down to the museum was headed by highland piper, Simon Addison. The final stage of the march was led by the racehorse named after Violette Szabo and rode by her usual jockey Faye McManoman.

After assembling in front of the museum for a group photograph, a one minute silence was observed followed by the hymn Jerusalem sung by Ruby Ann.

A message was played from actress Virginia McKenna including a heartfelt rendition of Violette’s poem ‘The Life That I Have’. There then followed the speeches, from invited guests, including international author Sophie Poldermans and also Tania, Violette’s daughter.

During the closure of the Violette Szabo GC museum for the pandemic it enabled the doubling of its size by the addition of a reading room.

The builder who took on this job was Joe Price, and Rosemary Rigby took time to pay tribute to his work and his family. The opening of the reading room was then performed when the ribbon was cut by the Mayor of Lambeth.

Lambeth being the part of London where Violette once lived.

A flypast by a Hurricane capped off this grand day of celebration.

Where else would you get a highland piper, a racehorse, a Winston Churchill lookalike, and a world war two fighter plane.