The Lord Mayor, Councillor Len Gregory, will lead a 2 minute silence tomorrow, Remembrance Day, at 1100 hours.
The Lord Mayor will be joined by officials from the Royal British Legion and the Thirty-Seven signal regiment to pay homage to those who lost their lives fighting for their country, taking part in a collective act as the nation stands together to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 the guns of Europe fell silent. After four years of bitter fighting, The Great War was finally over. The Armistice was signed at 5am in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, France on November 11, 1918. Six hours later, at 11am, the war ended.
The first Remembrance Day was conducted in 1919 throughout Britain and the Commonwealth. Originally called Armistice Day, it commemorated the end of hostilities the previous year. It came to symbolise the end of the war and provide an opportunity to remember those who had died.
After the end of the Second World War in 1945 Armistice Day became Remembrance Day to include all those who had fallen in the two World Wars and other conflicts.
Since 1919, on the second Sunday of November, otherwise known as Remembrance Sunday, a two minute silence has been observed at 11am at war memorials, cenotaphs, religious services and shopping centres throughout the country.
Lord Mayor, Councillor Len Gregory said: “As Lord Mayor of Birmingham, I received an approach from the Royal British Legion calling for observance of the 2 minutes’ silence at 1100 hours on Thursday, 11 November.
This will provide an opportunity for the citizens to share a moment of reflection and to remember all those men and women who have lost their lives or been affected by conflict during two world wars and in recent hostilities. May I ask the people of Birmingham to join me in this Act Of Remembrance at 1100 hours, wherever you may be.”
Ends
Notes to editors
Full programme of event:
Lord Mayor’s Suite
1015 hrs
Assemble – tea & coffee available
Hall of Memory
1059 hrs
Exhortation by Sue Anderson.
Bugler plays the Last Post.
Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, Lt Col Percival, Cllr Sue Anderson and Revd John Herve Padre and guests in attendance.
1100 hrs
Rifle Fire
1102 hrs
Rifle fire and Reveille
Kohima Ode by Dave Gooding
Reading by Lord Mayor
Prayers by Revd John Herve
To follow
Lord Mayor to inspect Standards
Coffee and Buffet Luncheon in the Lord Mayor’s Suite
Further information from Belinder Kaur Lidher on 0121 303 6969
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