Remembrance Weekend

November is the time of year when we wear a red poppy in memory for those who sacrificed their lives for us during armed conflict. Remembrance Day is on the 11th November. It is the day traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today. This year, more than three quarters of the population were expected to pause for the Two Minute Silence at 11am to reflect on the sacrifices made by our brave Service men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other, more recent conflicts.

People across the Island paused to contemplate

Several services of remembrance took place here on the Island to remember those who served the nation during times of war. In Newport the two-minute silence was observed around the war memorial in St Thomas’ Square. As in previous years, the beginning and end of the silence was marked by pyrotechnics launched from the roof of the fire station drill tower. Both signals were said to have been heard right the way across the whole of Newport. On Remembrance Sunday a special ceremony was held in the same square, with services of a similar nature taking place in towns across the Island. The Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff the Council Vice-Chairman including various members of the Royal British Legion, attended the Newport commemoration service.

In Ryde, two students from Ryde High School headed the annual tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to serve Britain during conflict. The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Wreath, which has been laid down by pupils of the school each year since her death in 1997, was this year placed at the shine in Lind Street under the recommendation of council chairman and member for Ryde; Councillor Charles Chapman. Sixth form students Danielle Frost-Jones and Morgan Morey (both 17) were chosen to do the honours this year; a duty that poignantly emphasised the importance of encouraging today’s young people to remember those immensely brave men and women who have fought throughout both the First and Second World Wars and the many conflicts that have followed.

More than 80% of Britons said it with silence in 2006

This year The Royal British Legion hosted an event of mass-participation in Trafalgar Square, London on Saturday 11th November to mark the Two Minute Silence. Several thousand people of all ages gathered together to show their support for those who have given their lives through conflict, and to reflect upon the human cost of war. In London as on the Island, ordinary members of the public stood amongst veterans of conflicts and their families. GMTV and Xtra Factor presenter Ben Shephard hosted the ‘Silence in the Square’ event in the County’s capital.

88 years since the First World War ended on the 11th day of the 11th month, a lone bugler played The Last Post and at 1100 GMT, and the ringing of the bells of St Martin in the Fields church and the chimes of Big Ben marked the time when, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, World War One came to an end following more than four years of continuous warfare.

The hum of noise in central London disappeared as the crowd in the square stood in reflection for the two minutes' silence held every year since. The silence was brought to an end by the bugler's traditional Reveille and a fly-past of four Typhoon jet aircraft by the RAF - the sudden noise prompting the square's pigeons to take flight and circle Trafalgar Square in unique fashion.

A sea of poppy petals

Taking time out to reflect

Traditionally formal Remembrance Day events, observed at war memorials, cenotaphs and religious services are held throughout the UK on the second Sunday of November (which is usually the Sunday nearest to November 11th). This year Remembrance Sunday fell on Sunday 12th November. With the 11th being a Saturday, this meant that many people across the country were shopping or were out and about with their families. Although London’s ‘Silence in the Square’ was less formal than other events held this Remembrance weekend, it certainly succeeded in encouraging people to take just a short time out of their busy lives and to stop, think and hope for the future.

With so many British troops currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan we are all aware of the cost of modern conflict and November 11th certainly proved how important it is to take time to reflect upon it.

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