If you were late yes­ter­day, you would have missed the In­de­pen­dence Day pa­rade. From the usu­al one hour, the pa­rade whizzed by in 30 min­utes.

Spec­ta­tors com­plained bit­ter­ly that the new route robbed them of a chance to be part of the an­nu­al event. De­spite the changes to the new route, the var­i­ous de­tach­ments turned out, all dressed smart­ly for the pa­rade, which was held in bril­liant sun­shine.

LEFT:Prime Min­is­ter Patrick Man­ning, sec­ond from right, makes a point to Chief Jus­tice Ivor Archie and his wife, Denise, while Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Min­is­ter Hazel Man­ning looks on at right.

RIGHT: These coast guards­men were pleased at what they were do­ing.

LEFT:Mem­bers of the Fire Ser­vice's band strike up "Fire, Fire."

RIGHT: Armed fe­male sol­diers march past the salut­ing base.

Mem­bers of the T&T Red Cross march in front of the dig­ni­taries.

Armed sol­diers go past the Pres­i­dent on the salut­ing base.