ROYAL Wootton Bassett’s Peter Carr will be among the chosen few at the special service at the Cenotaph in London on Remembrance Sunday.

The former Royal Air Force corporal will march alongside other blind veterans on Remembrance Sunday to represent Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired former servicemen and women.

Mr Carr will be among a select few guests invited to take part in the National Service of Remembrance in Whitehall, in a unique expression of national homage to those who have given their lives in war, with particular significance this year being attached to the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

He joined the RAF in 1958 as a photographer, was stationed in Malta and Cyprus as part of a NATO squadron and later posted in the UK.

In 1965 he developed a blood disease called toxoplasmosis that affected his eyesight. He left the RAF in 1967 after the disease had affected most of his central vision.

Mr Carr, 75, said: “At first I wasn’t so bothered about losing vision in my right eye as I still had my good left eye.

“However, after the second and third flare up and my sight loss increased, I realised that I’d have to adapt; you have to in a situation like that.

“I attempt to do most things except for driving a car, which I greatly miss. There are things that are more challenging than others but if possible I try to do them anyway.”

Mr Carr started to receive support from Blind Veterans UK in 1967 as soon as he left the RAF, where he received rehabilitation training.

He learned canework, woodwork, Braille and he was taught computer programming, and he visited Blind Veterans UK’s Brighton centre for database training and the Sheffield centre for cooking lessons.

With his training he was able to go on and become a computer programmer for several years until he retired in 2002. On Sunday he will march with other blind veterans to represent Blind Veterans UK.

Mr Carr, who is no stranger to the parade he has attended 13 times in the last 15 years, said: “Remembrance is an homage to those who gave their lives in the First and Second World Wars and anyone else who lost their lives fighting for us. It’s a tribute to the friends and family of anyone who has lost someone in the armed forces.

“It’s uplifting and an honour to pay our respects together and to represent a charity that continues to support us.”