Two Sussex First World War veterans took centre stage at a service to mark the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict and pay tribute to those they vowed never to forget.

Britain's oldest surviving veteran, Henry Allingham, 108, from Eastbourne, and Fred Lloyd, 106, from Uckfield, were joined by Jack Oborne, 104, and Royal Navy veteran William Stone, 103, at the Cenotaph in London.

They are among 23 known surviving British servicemen from the Great War but the only men well enough to take part in the anniversary events.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, veterans minister and Hove MP Ivor Caplin and Air Chief Marshal Sir Anthony Bagnall, vice-chief of the defence staff, were also at yesterday's service.

Shortly before 11am, escorts drawn from the current armed forces pushed three of the wheelchair-bound veterans the few yards from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Cenotaph.

Mr Stone proudly strode behind his colleagues under the shade of Whitehall's canopy of trees.

The veterans looked on at the hundreds of people who had gathered along the route as Big Ben chimed the hour and a military bandsman struck up the Last Post.

The four men later moved forward in unison to lay their wreaths at the base of the monument to pay tribute to the 750,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives during the four-year conflict.

Mr Allingham, who had served at the Somme, Battle of Jutland and the third Battle of Ypres, struggled free of his wheelchair and bent down in front of the Cenotaph unaided.

Mr Prescott, Mr Caplin and Sir Anthony then also placed wreaths on behalf of the Queen, the Government and the Commonwealth.

Dennis Goodwin, secretary of the World War One Veterans' Association, told the congregation: "This handful of survivors have gathered here this morning to remember the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of their war, a war which tragically changed the face of Europe and significantly changed their lives.

"It brought sorrow and sadness into every hamlet, village, town and city across our country.

"These are very brave men, as witnessed by the fact that they made this journey to London today to stand in front of the country's, the Queen's monument to our glorious dead.

"They are here to remember their survival and to pay homage to those who were less fortunate than they."

Mr Allingham and Mr Oborne, from Oxford, then read the Lord's Prayer.

Mr Stone, who will be 104 next month and is Britain's only surviving veteran of both world wars, read John McCrae's 1915 poem In Flanders Fields with the couplet:

"In Flanders Fields the poppies blow.

"Between the crosses, row on row."

The men then returned to positions in front of guests, who included Lord Kitchener, a great nephew of the former head of the war ministry, and a descendent of former naval commander Admiral Jellicoe.

As the National Anthem was sung, the 15-minute ceremony was brought to a close by piper Major Rod Allen of the First Battalion Irish Guards, who circled the Cenotaph as he played the lament Flowers Of The Forest.

The veterans were greeted in the nearby Ministry of Defence building by Mr Caplin, who awarded them the new Veteran's Badge.

Following the ceremony, Mr Stone said: "I saw many of my friends who went to fight in the war and who never came back.

"It was tragic and this morning's ceremony was deeply moving."

Mr Allingham said: "It brought back a lot of things that I have tried hard to forget. I've got a lot to be thankful for. I am still here, which I didn't think I would be able to say only a few years ago."

Mr Lloyd, who lost both his brothers between 1914 and 1918, served with the Royal Veterinary Corps and risked death by taking horses to the front line on the Western Front.

He said: "The service this morning was very important for me because I still miss both of them very much.

"The things I remember most about being on the front are the rats and the lice. They were everywhere. Of course there was no electricity, no lights in the boggy trenches - when it went dark it stayed dark."

Mr Goodwin, who organised the anniversary commemoration, had not invited members of the Royal Family, instead choosing to ask descendants of esteemed figures from the war to be guests of honour.

He said: "It's not a question of not wanting them here. In fact I didn't think it would be my place to ask them. I wanted this to be a day to remember the veterans."

He wants to keep the memories of those who died alive for future generations.

"What I hope is that we can get interest in the schools and that the young people will be interested in the legacy of what happened.

"We have halls of fame for cricketers or footballers and I don't see why we shouldn't have a hall of fame for our war heroes.

"If we do then I believe Bill Stone should be the first man we put in."