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Remembrance Day, 11 November is the memorial day observed across the Commonwealth to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty.
King George V started the tradition of the 2 minute silence at 11am in 1919 so that “the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead”.
The World War I hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. (“At the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 am.)
The red remembrance poppy is the familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields” written by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. After reading the poem, Moina Michael, a professor at the University of Georgia, wrote the poem, “We Shall Remember,” and swore to wear a red poppy on the anniversary.
The custom spread to Europe and the countries of the Commonwealth within three years. Poppies were worn for the first time at the 1921 anniversary ceremony. At first real poppies were worn. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I; their brilliant red colour became a symbol for the blood spilled in the war.
Click here to read how Remembrance Day is commemorated across the Commonwealth and other parts of the world.
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