About 100 war widows braved the rain and wind yesterday to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph in London.

Hundreds of spectators looked on as the women, some of whom lost husbands in the second world war, sang hymns and said prayers beside the monument.

Commemorations continue today in Whitehall, when more than 8,000 veterans from some 200 regiments are expected to march past the Cenotaph.

For the first time, defence chiefs will lay a wreath dedicated to the 150,000 soldiers of the Territorial Army killed in its 100-year history. Behind the scenes, they are finalising plans to slash the force by a third from 35,000 to below 25,000.

Ceremonies on Tuesday, Remembrance Day, at the Cenotaph will be led by three men, all well over 100, who are thought to be Britain’s last surviving veterans of the first world war, which claimed the lives of more than 1m of their British and Commonwealth comrades.

Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108, will be accompanied by the Duchess of Gloucester, Gordon Brown and about 4,000 others. The veterans will then be invited to No 10 for a reception hosted by the prime minister.

Stone, who lives in a care home in Sindlesham, Berkshire, said: “If it wasn’t for events like the laying of the wreath, then you’d forget it all. It’s especially important for the younger people who weren’t alive to see the wars.”

He said he was looking forward to visiting No 10. “I am honoured,” he said. “Last time I was there I sang a song for Tony Blair’s son, Leo. I gave him a rendition of my old favourite ‘All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor’.

“I might give Gordon Brown a song also; I always like to cheer people up.”

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