Armistice day 2019

At 11am today it will be exactly a hundred years since people in Britain and free countries around the world first observed two minutes of silence at 11am on the 11th of November, the anniversary of the point when the guns finally fell silent in the bloodiest war in history up to that time, in memory of those who gave their lives for their country in what was then known as the Great War.

Since then the scope of remembrance has been expanded to cover all those who died in that war and, tragically, those which have taken place since.

While the main acts of remembrance in this country now take place on Remembrance Sunday, the nearest Sunday to 11th November, which this year was yesterday, many people also observe a silence at 11am on the 11th of November, and I will be one of those who do that this year.


Comments

Gary Bullivant said…
My dog and I paused at the graveside of Sapper Hunter in Drigg churchyard this morning at 1100hrs. Nearby lie two former soldiers who survived wars and then grew old until time condemned them in their turn. One survived the Crimean war and an Afghan war, the other the 2WW. I expect to join them in due course but not before I get my 33% rail discount card (thanks to Grant Shapps for that one, gestures like that make service life worthwhile).
12:00 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Now there is a story.

Must have been a very moving moment.
1:29 pm
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