A special service was held at Chelmsford Cathedral today to mark the 60th anniversary of a horrific flood that killed over 2,500 people.
The North Sea flood of 1953 killed 326 people in England and Scotland, while 28 died in Belgium and a nightmarish 1,836 in the Netherlands.
It was one of Britain's worst peace-time disasters.
Representatives from the Netherlands were present at the Chelmsford service, with smaller services held in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
An event was held in Hunstanton, Norfolk, to honour Reis Leming, the first non-Briton to win the George Medal for bravery in peacetime.
The 22-year-old US airman defied the waves to rescue 27 people.
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