THE ELEVEN men who died in the Shoreham Airshow disaster have been remembered in a church ceremony two days before the anniversary of the crash. 

Family members lit altar candles in their honour at the start of the memorial service at St Mary de Haura Church in Shoreham this morning (Saturday). 

Monday marks one year since the Hawker Hunter jet displaying at the airshow smashed into the A27, killing bystanders and car travellers. 

Organised by Churches Together in Shoreham, today's service began with the Revd Canon Ann Waizeneker reading out the names of all eleven victims. 

Readings included John Donne's poem No Man Is An Island. 

Giving the address, Reverend Terry Stratford spoke of the suffering caused when the "bonds of love and family life were traumatically ruptured". 

He added: "John Donne, in the poem we have heard earlier, reflects on the inter-relatedness of human life. 

"'Each man's death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind'.

"He speaks for all of us. We as a community in Shoreham continue to share a sense of loss and bewilderment at this tragedy."

He added there could be "no real moving on" until everything that could be known about the crash was revealed and resolved. 

"As much as we might wish otherwise, there seems to be no option but to wait," he said.

Leslye Polito, whose son Daniele Polito, 23, was among the victims of the crash, praised the service and said she was pleased she came, even though it was hard to do so. 

Caroline Schilt, whose son Jacob, 23, also died, said of the service: "It was amazing to organise something like this and to come together.

"It's lovely for the families to share in this awful thing in a strange sort of way."

On Monday, flowers will be laid and a minute's silence held on the wooden Shoreham Tollbridge, which became a focal point for the community in the crash's aftermath, at 1.22pm - the exact time of the disaster.

Families, emergency service officers and civic leaders are expected to attend. Meanwhile, flags will be flown at half-mast at civic buildings across West Sussex.

A full report into the crash is expected to be released by the AAIB later this year. This year's Shoreham Air Show was cancelled out of respect for victims and their families.

The men who died were: wedding chauffeur Maurice Abrahams, 76, from Brighton; retired engineer James Graham Mallinson, 72, from Newick, near Lewes; window cleaner and general builder Mark Trussler, 54, from Worthing; cycling friends Dylan Archer, 42, from Brighton, and Richard Smith, 26, from Hove; NHS manager Tony Brightwell, 53, from Hove; grandfather Mark Reeves, 53, from Seaford; Worthing United footballers Matthew Grimstone and Jacob Schilt, both 23; personal trainer Matt Jones, 24; and Daniele Polito, 23, from Worthing.