Events took place on Friday, which was the 11th hour of the eleventh day of eleventh month. Two friends of mine were in Aldi supermarket in Pinner. (German - reconciliation with Germany, how appropriate.) Just before eleven they finished shopping and went onto the rooftop carpark to collect their car, which is where they always park. They heard a cannon and church bells ringing. Then the silence. Then another cannon and the church bells ringing again.
Two minutes of silence today, Sunday at 11 am mark Remembrance Sunday. H M The Queen as always is at the Cenotaph in London.
Sunday (this year the 13th November) is a day when people are off work and can attend and watch in person or on TV.
Back in the Nineteen Forties and Fifties people would have been listening to the radio. (Remember how people bought TV in 1953 to watch the coronation.) Nowadays, you can watch the internet on portable devices such as laptops and iPads and smart phones. Some people can set alerts on phones and watch on their watches. How the world has changed.
If you missed it, you can watch it again on TV. Expect to see members of the Royal Family, all the armed forces, the British Legion, elderly people in wheelchairs, parents and children.
In London at dusk poppies and poems are projected on the Elizabeth Tower housing Big Ben.
In Scotland commemorations take place at St Giles.
In Wales, events are in Cardiff and other cities and towns.
Is the rest of the world doing the same at the same time? That would be difficult to co-ordinate. South Africa and some of Western Europe is either on the same time zone or only an hour or two different. But the rest of the world, such as Australia, is on different time zones. (Australia and New Zealand are also in different seasons.) But we all have the media to keep us in touch.
In America November 11th is a national holiday. That sounds irreverent. But I remember that holiday originally meant holy day.
If you want to read about the relationship of Veterans Day and Remembrance Day you have many sources to consult. Memorial Day in the USA in May is for those who died. Remembrance Day place of honour is given to survivors who march to remember their fallen comrades, those who serviced injured physically or mentally, and all who served, whether as volunteers or conscripted. Nowadays the commemoration is not just for WWI or WWII but all wars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/remembrance-day-canada-ottawa-national-war-memorial-1.3846939
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-37952921
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-37962381
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3930522/Kate-joins-Queen-senior-royals-Royal-Albert-Hall-annual-Festival-Remembrance.html
https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/remembrance/ (Australia)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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