The United Kingdom fell silent on November 11 to mark Armistice Day, commemorating the end of the First World War and honoring those who have died in military conflicts, as ceremonies and a two-minute silence were observed across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Across the capital, workers paused as Big Ben struck the hour for the traditional two-minute silence at 11am, according to reporting from London. The central London observances included a national remembrance service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, which also marked the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, a four-month offensive fought by British and French forces against the German Empire during the First World War.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting attended the Western Front Association’s annual ceremony at the Cenotaph, where he laid a wreath of poppies. He was joined by UK government and senior international military representatives, schoolchildren, and cadets.
In Parliament, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lord Speaker Lord Forsyth of Drumlean laid commemorative wreaths and observed the silence at the Angel Memorial inside Westminster Hall. They were joined by Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka, who read a poem.
Following the service, Mr Speaker processed to the Lower Waiting Hall of the House of Commons for a Turning the Page ceremony remembering Alan Scott Balfour, who died in 1918. Later, at the start of Prime Minister’s Questions, Andy Burnham paid tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and praised the courage and bravery of the armed forces.
At the Royal British Legion National Remembrance Gardens in Staffordshire, formerly known as the National Memorial Arboretum, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester laid a wreath and observed the two-minute silence alongside hundreds of members of the public, veterans including 101-year-old Geoffrey Spencer—who joined the RAF in 1943—and individuals who served in conflicts ranging from the Falklands to Afghanistan.
Commemorations took place in towns and cities across the nations. In Scotland, the one o’clock gun at Edinburgh Castle fired at 11am to mark the start of the silence, with services held at the garden of remembrance in Princes Street Gardens, the Scottish National War Memorial, and Glasgow’s George Square. Rev Dr Karen Campbell, national chaplain of Royal British Legion Scotland, led a short service.
In Wales, crowds gathered in the town square in Conwy, where local school pupils read out the names of the fallen. Sian Grady, Mayor of Conwy, said that coming together for remembrance remained as relevant today as ever.
In England, regional services included events at the Portsmouth World War One Memorial in Guildhall Square, Hampshire, the Tommy statue in Dover, Kent, and a wreath-laying by Royal Artillery veteran Joe Walker at the Tommy statue in Seaham, County Durham.
Reflecting on the sentiment of the day, Sian Grady said: “still as relevant today as it ever was”.