UK falls silent for Armistice Day
It's been 106 years since the WWI ceasefire
Last updated 11th Nov 2024
The country will fall silent today as the UK marks Armistice Day.
At 11am today (11th November) people will take the time to pause and pay their respects to the past and present Armed Forces community, at the exact time and date that formal hostilities were ended in World War One.
Hits Radio will also be taking part, falling silent at 11am.
Today marks 105 years since the Western Front fell silent and the Armistice was signed, ending World War One.
How do we remember the fallen on Armistice Day?
Usually on Armistice Day at 11:00 a bugle call called The Last Post will be played out. This is followed by two minutes of silence where people remember and think about those who have died.
The silence is ended by the sounds of The Reveille which is another bugle call, originally used to wake or 'rouse' sleeping soldiers during conflict.
This year Armistice Day falls the day after Remembrance Day meaning many local authorities may choose to have had formal services on Sunday.
The end of World War One
The armistice was signed at 05:00 on the 11th November 1918 in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest in France. The signing of the armistice marked the formal end of hostilities on the Western Front which came into affect 6 hours later.
The chief German negotiator was Matthias Erzberger, a civilian politician. On the side of the Allies, the signatories included Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, and British Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss.
World War One timeline
28 June 1914: Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assassinated. Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, beginning World War I
2-7 August 1914: British forces arrive in France
6-12 September 1914: The First Battle of the Marne. 13,000 British casualties with 1,700 dead. 67,700 Germans dead
5 November 1914: Britain and France declare war on the Ottoman Empire
17 July 1915: Women demonstrate the right to work in war industries
1 July 1916 - 18 November 1916: Battle of the Somme. 420,00 British casualties. 1,499,000 casualties overall.
6 April 1917: The United States declares war on Germany
20 November 1917: First large-scale use of tanks in combat at Cambrai, France
11 November 1918: Germany signs the Armistice at Compiègne, ending World War I.