UK marks Remembrance Sunday
The country will fall silent at 11am
The UK will fall silent today as the country marks Remembrance Sunday.
At 11am today (14th November) people will take the time to pause, and pay their respects to the past and present Armed Forces community.
Hits Radio will also be taking part, falling silent at 11am, the exact time that formal hostilities were ended in World War One.
The National Service of Remembrance will be held today at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London.
Local events across the country will also take place as per usual this year - after people were encouraged to celebrate from home in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When does the National Service of Remembrance start?
Starting at 10.30am, the National Service of Remembrance will be held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London.
It will commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth veterans involved in the two World Wars and later conflicts.
Here is the order of the events:
- 08:00: Whitehall opens to the public
- 09:00: The Royal British Legion (TRBL) detachments form up on Horse Guards Parade and in Whitehall
- From 10:30: All detachments form up on the Cenotaph
- From 10:50: Participants process out onto the Cenotaph
- 11:00: National two minutes silence marked by the firing of guns from King’s Troop on Horse Guards Parade. Cenotaph Service commences
- 11:25: Cenotaph Service concludes and The Royal British Legion detachments disperse past the Cenotaph
The National service will also be televised on BBC One.
Do you need tickets to attend Remembrance Sunday events?
You won't need any tickets or passes to attend the event.
People are also welcome to watch the ceremony from the pavements along Whitehall and Parliament Street. However, entry may be limited if the area becomes full.
There will be video screens on these locations:
- North of the Cenotaph
- Near the green outside the main Ministry of Defence building
- Outside the Scotland Office
- South of the Cenotaph on the corner of King Charles Street.
Why do people wear poppies on Remembrance Day?
The symbol of the poppy dates all the way back to the First World War as they grew on the battlefields of the Western Front in Europe.
After the death of his friend in Ypres, Belgium in 1915, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was inspired by the sight of poppies growing in fields.
Amazed by the war memorial he proceeded to write the now-famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'.
Britain began to use the poppy symbol shortly after the war in 1921 when the Royal British Legion was formed.
Though people nowadays tend to go for paper or enamel poppy pins, they were previously made out of silk.
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.