Three million rose petals to mark war dead

It will be the most dramatic moment before a weekend of events to commemorate the victims of two world wars.

Tomorrow evening two Second World War planes will fly along the Thames, their holds loaded with an unusual cargo - rose petals.

At 6pm the pilots will release three million red petals: one for every British serviceman and woman killed in both world wars and every conflict since, turning the sky over London a vivid red.

The two-minute spectacle - never before seen over the capital - will provide an emotional climax to a day of remembrance that will start with the t w o - m i n u t e silence at 11am.

The drop will be carried out by two Douglas Dakota DC3s, which were built in 1944 and saw duty during the Berlin airlift of 1948.

RAF pilots Simon Chambers and Peter Parker will fly at 1,000 feet, first passing over Tower Bridge, then London and Southwark bridges, then Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges. The fly-past will also take in landmarks including St Paul's, Tate Modern, the National Theatre and the London Eye before ending at Westminster Bridge.

The drama will be heightened by a display that will see the London skyline bathed in red light. The six bridges and the Eye will be illuminated and giant images of poppies beamed onto the Shell Centre on the South Bank, one of the

most prominent landmarks on the river. The light show will run for four nights through to Remembrance Sunday.

"It should be a very good spectacle. The planes will be floodlit and buildings will be illuminated," said a spokesman for the Royal British Legion, which is organising the fly-past with Shell. "The petals will symbolise the dead of the two wars and conflicts since."

Brigadier Ian Townsend, directorgeneral of the

Legion, said: "We hope it will bring home the message to people that there is a continuing need for welfare for service people from other wars."

Since 1945 there has been only one year when British servicemen and women have not been killed on active duty, Brigadier Townsend said - 1968.

Four days of commemoration start tomorrow when the Queen and Prince Philip visit Westminster Abbey's Field of Remembrance at 11am to lead the two-minute silence.

Saturday sees a Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall before veterans gather for the Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall on Sunday.

The Dakota DC3 was one of the most durable aircraft ever made. It first flew in 1935 as a civilian plane but proved itself as a transport vehicle during the Second World War. After the war thousands were converted by airlines.