THIS IS LONDON OCTOBER EDITION 2025 - Flipbook - Page 4
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ARMISTICE DAY AND
REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY
Each November, for one hundred
years, the nation has stopped to
commemorate and reflect on the service
and sacrifice of our Armed Forces. In
London, this takes place on
Remembrance Sunday and Armistice
Day – the eleventh hour of the eleventh
day of the eleventh month, when peace
fell in 1918 at the conclusion of the First
World War.
The Cenotaph Parade and Act of
Remembrance is attended annually by
senior members of the Royal Family,
including His Majesty The King,
HM Government and features a March
Past involving 10,000 veterans and
members of the military.
Remembrance Sunday always falls on
the second weekend of November, which
means this year’s memorial takes place
on Sunday 9 November.
The first official celebrations on the
date were held by King George V at
Buckingham Palace in 1919, when he
hosted Raymond Poincaré, who was
President of France at the time.
The Armistice (latin for ‘to stand (still)
arms’), was signed by representatives of
the Allies and officials from Germany,
declaring an end to the First World War
with the cessation of hostilities on land,
sea and air. Although it marked the end
of hostilities, the nations were officially
involved in a state of war for seven more
months, until the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles on 28 June, 1919.
The poppy has been a prominent
symbol of remembrance for almost a
century, with millions produced every
year to pay tribute to the war dead. Its
origins lie in the opening lines of war
poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ by Canadian
officer John McCrae, first published in
December 1915:
The Lady Mayor of the City of London will travel in the magnificent State Coach for
the Procession through the City on Saturday 8 November.
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‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow,
between the crosses, row on row ... if ye
break faith with us who die, We shall not
sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders
fields.’
CONVERSATION WITH THREE
WOMEN VETERANS
On Thursday 6 November, at the Royal
United Services Institute in Whitehall,
leading war correspondent Jane Corbin
will take to the stage with three
remarkable women veterans to discuss
how their first of a kind achievements
helped to revolutionise the role and
perception of women in the military.
On the panel will be Army veteran
Gemma Morgan: the first woman to be
awarded the Carmen Sword for best
young officer in the Royal Logistic
Corps, Commodore Carolyn Stait CBE:
the first woman to command a Naval
Base in Britain, no woman held a higher
rank in the Royal Navy until 2015
and RAF veteran Liz McConaghy: the
youngest aircrew member to deploy to
Iraq followed by ten tours to Afghanistan.
In light of Armistice, all proceeds will
go to helping veterans’ mental health
charity Combat Stress, which for over a
century has treated and supported those
former servicemen and women who
returned from conflict.
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