IN SILENT PRAYER
Queen leads the nation’s tribute to our fallen heroes - 100 years to the day since the end of the Great War
THE Queen led the nation in tribute to the heroes of the Great War last night, after an emotional day of events marking the centenary of its end.
Hours after Britain fell silent to commemorate 100 years since the Armistice came into force, the 92-yearold monarch laid fresh flowers at the grave of the unknown warrior in Westminster Abbey.
She was joined by Germany’s president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who also laid flowers at the grave during a service in the Abbey to mark the end of the war to end all wars in which 17 million combatants and civilians died.
Earlier, on a momentous day of reflection and reconciliation around the world, the Queen watched from a Foreign Office balcony as Prince Charles, wearing a Field Marshal’s uniform, led the national tributes by laying her wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
The Queen was flanked by the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge. On the next balcony, the Duchess of Sussex made her first appearance at the Cenotaph, standing alongside Mr Steinmeier’s wife, Elke Budenbender.
Mood
But the 97-year-old Duke of Edinburgh, who served with distinction in the Royal Navy in the Second World War, missed the ceremony.
He has been absent on half a dozen occasions in the past when abroad on duty, but this was thought to be the first time he had missed the ceremony, simply because he was not up to it.
As millions around the country marked the sacrifice of those who gave up their lives in the First World War and other conflicts, Charles, who will be 70 this week, summed up the mood of the nation.
In a brief TV interview screened shortly before the precise 100th anniversary of the Armistice coming into force at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, he paid tribute to the Armed Forces.
Charles said: “We owe that enormous debt of gratitude to those who gave literally everything for our tomorrow. We go on remembering the extraordinary courage and gallantry and endless devoted service of our Armed Forces.”
In 1919, after an Australian journalist suggested in a letter to the London Evening News that there should be a respectful silence to remember those who had given their lives in the Great War, Charles’s great grandfather King George V issued a proclamation which called for a two-minute silence.
It said: “All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.”
Charles said: “I think the time to have just that silence, it was a wonderful idea, because we don’t have enough moments of silence to reflect. Above all, it’s a way of showing special honour and appreciation to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
As the Queen, Camilla, Kate and Meghan, as well as the Countess of Wessex and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, watched in silence from above, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, the Princess Royal, the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent all
laid tributes to Britain’s veterans. Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also laid wreaths, as did Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Commons Speaker John Bercow.
President Steinmeier became the first German leader to lay a wreath at the Cenotaph during the traditional Remembrance Sunday service as he stepped forward, placed a wreath decorated with the German flag at the foot of the memorial, stepped back and bowed his head.
Big Ben, quiet since renovations to the Elizabeth Tower began in August last year, struck 11 o’clock to mark the two-minute silence.
Among the thousands paying their respects was Lieutenant Commander Sarah Bligh of the Royal Navy. She said it was her grandmother’s stories of the war that inspired her to join the forces. “The thought of it being 100 years is really poignant,” she said. “I’ve got a photo of my great-grandfather taken 100 years ago to celebrate them all coming back from war.”
After the Royal Family had departed, more than 9,000 veterans marched past proudly, some of the oldest in wheelchairs. They included former Army sergeant Ron Freer, 103, who went blind after being held in a Japanese prison camp. Private Donald Smith, 98, paraded with the Queen’s Own Highlanders and Jeff Watkins, 97, travelled from San Diego, California, to march with the Federation of RAF Apprentices and Boy Entrants.
Big Ben sounded again at 12.30pm, joining bells across the rest of the world to echo the celebrations of 100 years ago as news of the Armistice spread. Moments later, 10,000 members of the public chosen by ballot marched past the Cenotaph for A Nation’s Thank You – The People’s Procession.
Among them was Jackie Sheridan, whose great great uncle Oliver Davies was killed by a stray bullet aged 21 while serving near Jerusalem as a driver for the Royal Engineers in December 1917.
Mrs Sheridan, from Syston, near Leicester, wore a Land Army badge that belonged to her grandmother.
Wiping away tears, she said: “That was very important to her.”
At the Abbey last night, the Queen and Mr Steinmeier shook hands beside by a marble memorial to Sir Winston Churchill.
Mr Steinmeier quoted from John’s gospel in German: “Beloved, let us love one another.”
Lightness
Moments earlier, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: “The fact that John’s words will be read in German by that country’s president, a friend to this nation, demonstrates what can be done.
“On this day we remember in order to act.”
A beacon was lit at Westminster Abbey along with more than 1,000 others across the UK last night.
The lights are intended to symbolise the end of the darkness of war and a return to the lightness of peace.
Many went to the Pages of the Sea commemoration, where artists at beaches around the UK drew pictures of heroes into the sand as a final farewell. Their creations were then washed away by the tide.
FROM the smallest village memorial services to the 10,000 who marched solemnly past the Cenotaph, the nation came together yesterday in an overwhelming display of respect for the fallen.
With poppies and soldier silhouettes, with beach artwork and bell-ringing, or simply with quiet reflection, they honoured those who sacrificed themselves for the freedoms we hold dear.
Up and down the country, the two-minute silence was immaculately observed, though the message it conveyed was deafening: We will not forget.
Leading it all, as ever, was the Queen. She has lived through most of the 100 years since the Armistice that ended the First World War and she remains as staunch and dependable as ever.
She will have been saddened that Prince Philip could not be at her side.
She would have been as proud as always to see her son Charles and grandsons William and Harry lead the wreath-laying, but for Her Majesty it is never about her, her family or her feelings. It is all about representing the nation.
Her usual quiet dignity personified the thoughts of her people on such a momentous day.