UK is great in honoring their dead.
A colleague of mine has taken upon her to track the family of an English soldier who fell around Charleroi on 24 August 1914. What picked her curiosity is that he was alone in that cemetery whilst so many others were regrouped elsewhere.
Anyway they found and befriended his family and invited them 2 years ago. The kids at school made drawings and recited poems. The family read letters from the soldier and made a speech.
And the Uk consulate sent somebody to attend. In 2014 15 and 16.
This has become now a kind a village tradition - a good one.

Before WW1 and after the battles in Crimea the British planted snow drops to commemorate the dead in battle and as a signal of hope in the depths of winter. (Snow drops generally grow well in Crimea and many types were brought back by soldiers).

Last year our town planted over 10,000 of the things.

I have been reading this thread several times, but I don't know what to say. The histories of both World Wars are terrifying. May you rest in peace, the ones who were fallen.

There is a light & music projection on the façade of Hotel des Invalides (Paris), until 13 nov, to honor those who served. In case anybody is interested.

In UK, today's two-minute silence takes place at 11 am, not 11.11 am.>>

Alec - this may explain an embarrassing and annoying thing that happened to me last year at court. On 11th November I was outside the court room waiting for my case to be called on when there was an announcement for the 2 minute silence to start so I duly stood and observed it. After about a minute I was brusquely called into court and told the case was starting and when I protested was told that the 2 minute silence had been over some minutes before. Luckily there were no members of the public around to observe this unfortunate confusion.

WoinP - that is a nice tradition. ditto the snowdrops, bilbo.

<<No UK service personnel have been killed in action so far in 2016. If this continues until the end of December, it will make it only the second year since 1945 when this has happened (The previous being 1968)>>

let's hope that we make it to the end of the year, Willit.

I hope I can be forgiven for reposting what I posted on another thread:

At lunchtime today DS and I went to an exhibition in Truro Cathedral where there is an exhibition of work by local craft workers commemorating the Armistice; one of his friends was exhibiting her metal collages inspired by Herodsfoot, the only "thankful" village in Cornwall, [a thankful village being one where every one who went to war returned].

There were some lovely and very thorough provoking works including an exhibit inspired by the death of the artist's great-uncle and the letters he wrote to and from his family; when I was discussing it with DS we realised that this happened in our family too but he didn't know about it.

There was also another piece featuring a howitzer - hopefully unarmed.

5 French soldiers have died in action this year, mostly in Mali.

>>Sunday is more .... for the administration to show their respect<<

I don't think that's at all true.

British commemoration at Remembrancetide has fluctuated over the past 50 years between almost nominal, heavily concentrated on Nov 11, heavily concentrated on Remembrance Sunday and little more than watching the TV programme on Remembrance Saturday.

This is the first weekday Nov 11 I can remember where there have been widespread parades. Even so, here in the Brize Norton area (where during the Afghan and Iraq wars, commemoration events were almost weekly), the few events today were locally described as "rehearsals" for Sunday.

As noted above, Armistice Day is, in the US, called Veterans Day, and is also celebrated on 11/11.

As the US honored ALL of those who have served in the military on behalf of our country, I renewed my personal commitment to standing, always, on the side of the rights enshrined in our "Bill of Rights." These specific rights were amended to our Constitution in 1791, and so are part of what our veterans have defended and that I have been fortunate enough to experience as a citizen of the U.S.A. These include, but are not limited to, the freedom of religion, speech, and the press, the protection of rights to life, liberty, and property; the rights of accused persons in criminal and civil cases; and many others. I stand by my country’s efforts to ensure that these rights are enjoyed by ALL of our citizens, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability and genetic information, or age.

I remember the days when our rights did depend on some of these attributes – color or gender, as examples.

I hope that the U.S. government remains committed to protecting each of these rights for all our citizens.

Gender might make a difference for the next 4 years...

(God is a black female by the way... and arabic).

I suspect that Armistice is to allow us to think of all who died in wars, for those who surviveded and for hope for the future. Not just our own side.

From memory the addition of the Sunday "do" was to allow munitions production to continue throughout WW2 without disruption. The poignancy of that thought should stick in our mind. While a sensible war time decision what a pity it had to be made.

>>I suspect that Armistice is to allow us to think of all who died in wars, for those who surviveded and for hope for the future. Not just our own side.
<<

One might hope so. But everyone who observes it does so in their own way....

All sides.
I live in Waterloo. In 1815 the 'bad' ones were the French and the good ones Germans and British.
One century later ...

I have never believed in good ones and bad ones in wars (to the exception if Nazis).
Just poor guys led to the slaughter fields.
That is why I believe God is a woman : women create and give life. Men fight kill and destroy.

Macross, thanks for posting the poem "In Flanders Fields". I had forgotten how beautiful, and sad, it is. Unfortunately, here in the United States Veterans Day seems largely forgotten, as people go about their normal routines. This seems to be more and more the case as time marches on. Young people don't seem to know, and aren't taught, what the word "sacrifice" means anymore. Helicopter Mothering seems to be the norm. So much whining and coddling in our great universities. What a shame. I get teary-eyed just thinking about all those brave young souls lost on the battlefields of World Wars One and Two. And the more recent wars, too.

Suec - the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have made the UK public very aware of the sacrifices made by the Armed Services; in some areas like those round Plymouth where there is a big Naval base many people know at least one person who is serving and therefore it is all the more real.

I have to say that I was not unhappy when neither of our two showed any desire to go into the Forces, though I'm sure that I would have been very proud of them if they had.

On a lighter note, the BBC 5 live extra cricket commentary was just interrupted for 2 minutes to observe the 2 minute silence; however as it was coming live from India, the crowd noises could be heard in the background complete with oohs and aaahs as the cricket continued to be played.

I struck me as somewhat surreal that we were listening to a silence that was coming to us from India in the middle of a test match.

I have the utmost respect for troopers. However as a father I'm glad none of my kids went into the army. I know it sounds egoistical and it is. But I sleep better at night.

I remember my son getting mad at his young sisters who were running in the cemetery of Coleville and telling them they should show respect for these people who died liberating us. He was about 10, the sisters 8 and 4... Made me proud of him, once more.

(plus, I've been in the army, and well, Belgian army is not exactly to be compared to British army).

(plus, I've been in the army, and well, Belgian army is not exactly to be compared to British army).>>

WoinP - I think that you do yourself a disservice. BTW, Is the Belgian Army by conscription or purely voluntary?

Hey, Wo -- Believe it or not, I was treated to a cup of Belgian coffee today. Nothing like it, IMO! Made me think of you, and I thought this might be a thread on which I could reach out and say I hope that you start your day tomorrow with a delicious brew. :-)

Thank you both. At least I start my day with a smile.

Ann the Belgian army used to be based on conscription but Is no longer.

I spent only 10 months as a NCO.
But if I was unimpressed by our martial aptitude I learnt to speak Flemish. I said it was my mother tongue and was sent to a Flemish unit.

10 months is, IMO, more than enough! Thank you for your service.