King's coronation: Thousands of military personnel arrive in London by train

Members of the Armed Forces have been arriving on trains in their thousands in London for the largest ceremonial military operation in the UK since the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

More than 5,000 troops arrived in the capital via trains early this morning, pulling into Waterloo station.

Speaking outside Waterloo, Staff Sergeant Richard Flattery, from the Royal Logistic Corps, told Forces News: "I've just been involved in the logistics side at Waterloo train station, making sure the troops come off at the right time.

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"It's a once-in-a-lifetime achievement really... it's never going to happen again, not in my lifetime anyway, or even in my career, so it's a big achievement, really, to have been part of it."

Network Rail has said it is the largest movement of the military via the rail networks since Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965.

Members of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Commonwealth forces travelled to the UK's busiest railway station on Saturday morning on board seven South Western Railway trains and two chartered West Coast Railways trains.

The soldiers, sailors and aviators arrived to the sound of a special announcement recorded by the King and Queen, which is being played at stations across Britain this weekend.

After leaving Waterloo, they marched over Westminster Bridge to assemble ahead of the coronation.

The military personnel are leading processions accompanying the King and Queen to and from Westminster Abbey.

Metropolitan Police and military police officers patrolled the route from Victoria to Westminster from the early hours on Saturday.

In total, more than 9,000 members of the UK Armed Forces are deployed for the coronation with about 7,000 of these on ceremonial duties.

Forces News reporters are out across the capital following the movements of the military as they prepare to put on a spectacular display of military pomp and pageantry to mark the coronation of King Charles III.

Although already based in London, members of the Household Cavalry were also up early, taking care of final preparations at Hyde Park Barracks.

This includes getting the horses out for some early-morning exercise as they too have a starring role in the coronation's proceedings which you can see below.

We will be keeping you up to date throughout the Coronation Day of all the happenings via our social media pages.