Prime Minister David Cameron, other politicians, religious leaders and military chiefs were all in attendance beside the Royal family as over 7,000 ex-servicemen and women marched past the Cenotaph, followed by civilians including 60 war widows. Thousands of members of the public gathered to join in the annual Remembrance celebrations and gathered along Whitehall for its ceremony.
According to Lt Gen Sir John Kiszely, of the Royal British Legion, the commemorations this year were "as important as ever" as he believes "Remembrance Sunday is a time for the nation to unite in its reverence for the British armed forces past and present". Lt Kiszely goes on to say that "When we bow our heads in reflection, we remember those who fought for our freedom during the two world wars, but we also mourn and honour those who have lost their lives in more recent conflicts."
The day was also marked in other parts of the world with British troops in Camp Bastion and across Afghanistan, those not on operational duty, observing a two minute silence, and in the Helmand province 18-year-old Private Jake Noble, from Fraserburgh Aberdeenshire, laid a wreath saying it was "a privilege".`
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the day was important for millions of people as "The armed services have acquitted themselves incredibly well, of course in Afghanistan on an ongoing basis and also in the operation in Libya over the course of this year." He went on to say that "The public hugely respects and admires what our service people do and the professionalism with which they do it."
Since the Royal British Legion instigated the first official Remembrance Day 90 years ago ceremonies have been held at the same time across the UK to remember those who have fought and died in battle to protect the kingdom. Ceremonies held this year included Cardiff where First Minister Carwyn Jones laid a wreath at the National War Memorial and in Sunderland which was thought to be the biggest remembrance event outside London.
Red Poppies are traditionally worn to mark Remembrance Sunday but Chris Nineham, from the Stop the War Coalition, told BBC Radio 5 live they would wear white poppies instead of the traditional red ones as "Lots of people will be wearing red poppies and laying red wreaths... but we also think that people have the right to wear white poppies and lay white wreaths as a way of saying the waste of life that has occurred in the past should not occur in the future," he said. Whilst Sir David Richards, chief of the defence staff, told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that the wearing of poppies was "very humbling for us as we go about our daily business not thinking about these bigger issues".
Article by Michelle.
