Traditional pursuits in November – part 3

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

John McCrae 1872 - 1918

On Armistice Day, now usually called Remembrance Day, a two-minute silence is observed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month to commemorate the ending of the First World War. The Armistice, which is Latin for ‘to stand or still arms’, was signed at 05:45 on  11^th November, 1918, between the Allies and Germany as a preface to peace negotiations. The principals met in a railway carriage serving as the headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, Field Marshal Foch, in a secret location in the Forest of Compiègne, Picardy. The guns fell silent at 11:00.

The silence on Armistice Day was suggested to King George V who wrote a press statement on 7^th November, 1919. It was published in The Times.

To all my people,

     Tuesday next, 11 November, is the first anniversary of the armistice, which stayed the world-wide carnage of the four preceding years, and marked the victory of right and freedom.

     I believe that my people in every part of the Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of that great deliverance and of those who laid down their lives to achieve it.

     To afford an opportunity for the universal expression of this feeling it is my desire and hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of all our normal activities.

     During that time, except in the rare cases where this may be impracticable, all work, all sound, and all locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.

     No elaborate organisation appears to be necessary.

     At a given signal, which could easily be arranged to suit the circumstances of each locality, I believe that we shall all gladly interrupt our business and pleasure, whatever it may be, and unite in this simple service of silence and remembrance.

  GEORGE R.I.

                                The service at the Cenotaph 

Thereafter, the silence has been observed annually throughout the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. It is a poignant moment when the world stills, wherever practicable, in schools, supermarkets, radio, television, businesses large and small. I read once, but cannot find it now, that the first minute of the silence was to commemorate those who had died, and the second was to remember those who were left behind to carry on, the wounded, the widows, the families.

Remembrance Sunday is always held on the second Sunday in November in many and varied locations. Some gatherings are large, others small, but they follow the same format and all are impressive. In Whitehall in London, the Cenotaph, a war memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, is the place where the National Service of Remembrance is held. The service honours those men and women of Britain and the Commonwealth, both civilian and military, who were involved in so many capacities in two World Wars and other conflicts.

The service is attended by members of the Royal family, political leaders and Commonwealth representatives, military personnel and war veterans. Following the laying of wreaths, there is a march past of around 10,000 veterans from many organisations from fire fighters to ambulance drivers, from merchant seamen to civil servants. They also lay wreaths.

The contrast between the youngest and oldest is striking – a reminder, if ever one were needed, of the loss that war brings.