REMEMBRANCE+DAY

**REMEMBRANCE DAY**



1. WHAT IS REMEMBRANCE DAY? Remembrance Day (also known as Armistice Day) is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. While this official date to mark the end of the war reflects the cease fire on the Western Front, hostilities continued in other regions, especially across the former Russian Empire and in parts of the old Ottoman Empire. After World War II, the name of the holiday was changed to Veterans Day in the United States and to Remembrance Day in countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations. In the United Kingdom, in 1939, it was moved to the Sunday nearest to 11th November in order not to interfere with wartime production, should 11 November fall on a weekday.

2. WHY DO WE HAVE REMEMBRANCE DAY? The first Remembrance Day commemorated the end of the First World War. People wanted to remember the many millions who had died, so their deaths would not be in vain and the Great War would really serve as "the war to end all wars". Since then Remembrance Day has come to be an opportunity to honour and respect all those who have died for their country.

3. WHAT STARTED THE FIRST WORLD WAR? The immediate cause lay in a conflict of interests between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the Balkans. On 28th June 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo in Bosnia, by a Serbian nationalist and on 28th July Austria-Hungary, with German support, declared war on Serbia. Russia then entered the war in support of Serbia. From there it spread through Europe and beyond.

4. WHAT CHARACTERIZED THE FIRST WORLD WAR? It was the first world war, whole nations not just armies were involved. There was a huge loss of life on both sides, about 20 million (soldiers & civilians). About 30 million men were in arms. It was the first war where more scientific ways of fighting were introduced – aeroplanes, poison gas, tanks. There was a great deal of filthy, useless trench warfare. Because of the huge loss of life and the nature of the war it was believed by many at the time that it would be the first and the last world war. It was a turning point in the attitudes of many people to war.

5. WHY DO WE KEEP A TWO-MINUTE SILENCE? At 11am on each Remembrance Sunday a two-minute silence is observed at war memorials and other public spaces across the UK. The silence is meant as a tribute to those who lost their lives fighting for their country - but what is the significance of that date and time? On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns of Europe fell silent. In a letter published in the London Evening News on 8th May 1919, an Australian journalist, Edward George Honey, had proposed a respectful silence to remember those who had given their lives in the First World War. This was brought to the attention of King George V and on 7th November 1919, the King issued a proclamation which called for a two minute silence:"All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead."

6. WHY DO PEOPLE WEAR POPPIES? Scarlet corn poppies grow naturally in conditions of disturbed earth throughout Western Europe. The destruction brought by the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th Century transformed bare land into fields of blood red poppies, growing around the bodies of the fallen soldiers. In late 1914, the fields of Northern France and Flanders were once again ripped open as World War One raged through Europe's heart. Once the conflict was over the poppy was one of the only plants to grow on the otherwise barren battlefields.A Canadian doctor posted to the front wrote a poem entitled “In Flanders Fields” which served as the inspiration for people to wear artificial poppies as a sign of remembrance.

7. WHAT IS THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The Royal British Legion (RBL), sometimes referred to as simply The Legion, is the United Kingdom's leading charity providing financial, social and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces, and their dependants. The Legion organises a fund-raising drive each year in the weeks before Remembrance Sunday, during which artificial red poppies, meant to be worn on clothing, are offered to the public in return for a charitable donation. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Scottish Poppy Appeal 2010 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">8. WHAT CELEBRATIONS ARE HELD ON REMEMBRANCE DAY? <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">Ceremonies are held at local war memorials, usually organized by local branches of the Royal British Legion. Typically, poppy wreaths are laid by representatives of the Crown, the armed forces, and local civic leaders, as well as by local organizations. A two minutes' silence is also frequently incorporated into church services. The beginning and end of the two minutes silence is often marked in large towns and cities by the firing of ceremonial cannon and many employers, and businesses invite their staff and customers to observe the two minutes silence at 11:00 a.m. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">The main national commemoration is held at Whitehall, in Central London. Members of the British Royal Family walk through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office towards the Cenotaph, assembling to the right of the monument to wait for Big Ben to strike 11:00 a.m., and for the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery at Horse Guards Parade, to fire the cannon marking the commencement of the two minutes of silence. Following this, "Last Post" is sounded by the buglers of the Royal Marines. "The Rouse" is then sounded by the trumpeters of the Royal Air Force, after which wreaths are laid by the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family attending in military uniform and then other representatives attending. After the service, there is a parade of veterans, who also lay wreaths at the foot of the Cenotaph as they pass.