Last survivors mark armistice day
Veterans gather at the Cenotaph
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Tuesday, 11, Nov 2008 07:36
A two-minute silence took place at 11:00 GMT today to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the first world war.
Veterans Henry Allingham, 112, Harry Patch, 110, and William Stone. 108, are the only known surviving veterans of the 1914-1918 conflict living in Britain.
The trio led the remembrance service at the Cenotaph in central London this morning. Other services and ceremonies took place across the country.
At Southampton one million poppies were dropped from a Tiger Moth plane on to the QE2 liner as it sailed on its final voyage from Britain.
The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire saw a flypast by the RAF attended by Prince Michael of Kent, after an hour of first world war era tunes played by the band of HM Royal Marines.
And across the English Channel French president Nicolas Sarkozy, along with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, attended a ceremony at Verdun - a site now symbolic of Franco-German reconciliation.
Far from being the 'war to end all wars' the first world war was only the beginning of a century of warfare, but the moment of the armistice which brought its fighting to an end – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – has stuck as the time to remember the fallen.
The last of the German troops who fought in the trenches died earlier this year aged 107.
Prime minister Gordon Brown said: "Let us today pay tribute and give thanks to all who wear the British uniform, all who carry our flag and all who risk or have given their lives that our country can remain strong and free.
"Our gratitude is unbounded your heroism unsurpassed. You are in our thoughts today and always."
And Conservative party leader David Cameron added: "Let's also remember the sacrifices being made right now, in our name, by the soldiers out in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and the sacrifices being made by their families back home who are dealing with the stress, worry and disruption that comes with having a loved one in the armed forces."