WAR heroes who died defusing beach landmines were among those honoured at an Armistice Day ceremony at the top of the i360 on Saturday.

Veterans, military personnel and relatives of those who died in conflict gathered to honour veterans’ sacrifice with a two-minute silence while taking in views from the top of the world’s tallest moving observation tower.

The 65-strong group bowed their heads at 452ft to mark the moment the armistice was signed, bringing about the end of the First World War, and to honour those who died in both the world wars or conflict since.

The Last Post was played and Steve Bax, executive director of the attraction, read the Exhortation.

The 30-minute trip looked out on to part of Brighton beach in front of the West Pier where Captain Ken Revis, of the Royal Engineers, lost his sight during the Second World War while defusing mines.

While he survived, thousands of others around the country died carrying out such tasks.

Paul Hull, a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing officer who retired from the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Unit in 1985 after seven years of service, decided to take to the skies, gliding up on the tower to remember Mr Revis.

He said: “I had the pleasure to meet him when I was younger and he inspired me.

“I took the flight to remember him as we rose into the air over the spot where he was injured, and the many others who were killed when they were clearing mines on the beaches.

“It was very moving.”

Pointing to the beach hundreds of feet beneath his feet, Mr Hull added: “I’ve often thought it would be nice to have a memorial there for them.”

Ken Revis joined the Royal Engineers bomb disposal unit on the outbreak of the Second World War, according to the Sussex History Forum.

An entry marking his service said he defused his first German bomb in a garden in Hastings, dealing with hundreds more.

In September 1943 he was asked to “delouse” the two piers in Brighton. He had no difficulty with the Palace Pier, and then approached the West Pier by rowing boat. Avoiding the ladder, he climbed on to the structure and defused six mines using a map. But then 13 mines exploded. When he regained consciousness, he could not see anything and there were deep wounds to his forehead.

Sergeant Gio Bond, detachment commander 1 Brighton with the Sussex Army Cadet Force, brought 45 uniformed cadets to take part in the Armistice Day flight.

The tower’s lights shone red in commemoration.