Bikers honour soldier buried in Alnwick Cemetery

Members of the Eights and Aces motorbike group visited Alnwick Cemetery on Sunday to pay their respects to a soldier who died during the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Corporal Terry O’Neill served in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers as a dog-handler and was killed in 1991 when a grenade was thrown over the wall of his Belfast army base. He was feeding his Labrador at the time.

The Eights and Aces are serving and former veterans and supporters from North East England and on Sunday they took part in Operation Banner where they visited the graves of all Northern Ireland casualties who are buried in Northumberland.

The group was met by local Alnwick Royal British Legion members Peter Proctor-Cannon and Councillor Geoff Watson who is also Alnwick Mayor. Also present was Cllr Martin Harrington, chair of Alnwick Town Council’s Cemetery Committee who said “It was a pleasure to meet the bikers who are committed to honouring military casualties. Each year they tour a different northern county in a day and this year they toured Northumberland. It was an honour to take part in the ceremony and to pay respects to Cpl O’Neill.”