Armistice Day ceremonies have been taking place around the world on 11 November 2016, the 98th anniversary of the ceasefire that ended the First World War.
In this, the third of the WW1 Centenary years, the Western Front Association’s remembrance service at the Cenotaph in London marked the events of 1916, and in particular the Battles of the Somme, Verdun and Jutland.
*The Vigil Party was formed by The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. The Royal Artillery was present at every action during the 141 days of the fighting on the Somme.
*A Royal Marines bugler represented all those from the Royal Naval Division who fought at the Somme. Royal Marines took part in the Battle of Jutland – the biggest naval clash of the Great War – manning many of the British warships’ guns.
*The pipes and drums of the London Scottish Regiment led the procession to the Cenotaph. Their forebears suffered heavy casualties on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
*Leading the prayers to the fallen of 1916, the Western Front Association’s padre, Brother Nigel Cave, remembered the soldiers who fought at Verdun, the longest single battle of the Great War.
After the two-minute silence at 11am, singer Cerys Matthews read ‘In Memoriam’ by Ewart Alan Mackintosh, the British war poet killed at the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.
The Western Front Association’s service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall is held annually on Armistice Day ‘to remember the courage and comradeship of those on all sides who served their countries during the Great War of 1914-18.’
A short distance from the Cenotaph, hundreds of people gathered in Trafalgar Square on November 11 for the Royal British Legion’s ‘Silence in the Square’ event.
Britain’s National Service of Remembrance, commemorating servicemen and women killed in both world wars and conflicts since 1945, takes place at the Cenotaph this weekend, on November 13, Remembrance Sunday.
Also in Centenary News:
French Armistice Day commemorations in London mark Verdun & The Somme.
Source: Western Front Association
Images: Centenary News
Posted by CN Editorial Team