Five weeks of special events in Onchan will mark the end of the First World War in style.

The events, which start next week, will also commemorate 100 years of the RAF and mark the 80th anniversary of the formation of the Onchan branch of the Royal British Legion.

The official unveiling of two specially commissioned statues of First World War Tommies by the island’s Lieutenant Governor, Sir Richard Gozney, will take place at 1pm outside Onchan Commissioners’ offices on Tuesday, October 9.

Members of the public can attend the ceremony. Onchan Commissioners and members of the Onchan RBL will also be there.

Brian Whitehead, of the Onchan RBL, said: ’Some 36 brave young men from this village were lost in the Great War and many came back home with injuries which lasted them a lifetime.’

He said that rather than spread commemorative events out during the year, they had decided to concentrate their efforts into the weeks around Remembrance Sunday, with proceeds going to the 2018 poppy appeal.

To coincide with the unveiling, a major exhibition celebrating the three events will begin in the Harvey Briggs Onchan library, from October 9 to November 15 (open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday). During the exhibition, the library will be organising a ’community bunting’ where the public can take photographs from the family collections and have them printed as a bunting.

From November 12 to 18, the bunting created by the community will be put on display in the library.

On the following two days, October 10 and 11, it is the turn of children from Onchan Primary, Ashley Hill and St Ninian’s Lower Schools, who will be staging Onchan Schools Remember, a one-hour show starting at 6.30pm, at St Ninian’s Lower School, Bemahague. Tickets available from RBLOnchan on 622314.

A celebration coffee morning in the pensioners’ hall, near the library, starts 10.30am on October 18, and this is followed on October 24, by a concert featuring the Laxey bell ringers and the Musicale choir.

The concert, held at the village hall on Royal Avenue, will also mark the official launch of the 2018 RBL poppy appeal. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start and a display of Standards from various organisations will be on view.

A special evensong service will be held in St Peter’s Church, Onchan, on November 4, when the church choir, led by Wendy McDowell, invites the congregation to remember those who fell in the world wars and other conflicts.

The remembrance weekend sarts off on Saturday, November 10, with the children’s tribute, at St Peter’s Church garden of remembrance.

Starting at 10am, children from Onchan Primary, Ashley Hill and St Ninian’s Lower schools will put 73 wooden crosses onto the grass, each with a name of a serviceman from the village who fell in conflicts. The children will also read a poem they have prepared at school.

Remembrance Sunday falls on November 11, when Onchan Silver Band will lead a parade, followed by former service people, commissioners, MHKs, Scouts, Guides, schools and many local organisations. This starts from behind the war memorial at 9.30am next to Elm Tree House and ends at St Peter’s Church for a service.

After the service the parade returns to the war memorial for 11am to lay wreaths and observe the traditional two minutes’ silence.

On Thursday, November 15, the draw takes place, in the library, to find the winners and runners up of the Onchan Revisited competition.

The competition, consisting of questions about Onchan over the past 30 or 40 years, is contained in flyers being delivered to houses around the village and, once complete, can be put in a designated box in the library.