The Mayor of Guildford, Councillor David Elms, will join veterans, cadets and guests to mark Armistice Day on Tuesday 11 November. Armistice Day commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany which took place on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918 and signified the end of World War I.
The date was later declared a national holiday in many allied nations including the UK, to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during The Great War. So at 11am on November 11 each year there is a two minutes silence in many parts of the world as a sign of respect. People are asked to remember the casualties of the war in the first minute (roughly 20 million people), and the second minute is dedicated to those who were left behind, generally understood to be wives, children and families who survived, but were deeply affected by the conflict.
The two minutes silence will be led from the Guildford Guildhall balcony on the High Street where the Mayor will be joined by the Leader of Guildford Borough Council, Cllr Stephen Mansbridge and Managing Director, Sue Sturgeon. Bill Wallis, a local veteran and member of the Royal Air Force Association will read the exhortation before the silence commences and a bugler will then sound the Last Post from the Guildhall balcony.
A maroon will be fired from Guildford Castle to mark the beginning of the two minutes silence at 11am and again at 11.02am to signify the end of the silence. A cadet from the Royal Grammar School Combined Cadet Force will also read the world renowned Kohima Epitaph, which is the epitaph that is engraved on the War Memorial to commemorate the men of the British 2nd Division who fell in the Battle of Kohima in 1944.
When you go home
Tell them of us and say
For your tomorrow
We gave our today
Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November each year “to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts”. This year it falls on November 9 and Holy Trinity Church will hold the Annual Service of Remembrance in honour.
Across Britain, Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages and in Guildford there will be a procession to the war memorial in the Castle Grounds after the service at around 11.50am. Military groups will join the Civic procession and a short wreath laying ceremony of remembrance poppies (as pictured above) will then take place.
James Martin
Image sourced from: http://tinyurl.com/lumvzs4