Silent tribute paid to war dead

Ex-servicemen observe the two minute silence outside Worcester Cathedral
12 April 2012

Millions of Britons have held a two-minute silence to remember the nation's war dead.

The tribute started at 11am, the time the guns on the Western Front fell silent at the end of the First World War in 1918.

Ceremonies nationwide commemorated fallen servicemen and women from both World Wars and later conflicts, including the 385 British personnel who have died since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001.

War memorials in the UK's villages, towns and cities became the focal point for remembrance at the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" - the time the peace agreement between Germany and the Allies took effect in 1918 after four years of fighting.

Wreaths were laid at the Cenotaph in central London during a remembrance service organised by the Western Front Association.

At the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, a service of remembrance was attended by local and national dignitaries. The Armed Forces Memorial is designed so that at 11am on November 11 a shaft of sunlight passes though a slot in its inner and outer walls and hits a central bronze wreath sculpture.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, visited the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton, Somerset, to take part in the Act of Remembrance at the Royal Naval Cemetery at St Bartholomew's Church.

In a recorded message used at the Royal British Legion ceremony in Trafalgar Square, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We stand together to honour the incredible courage and sacrifice of generations of British servicemen and women who have given their lives to protect the freedoms that we enjoy today.

"From the trenches of the First World War to the desert of Afghanistan, our Armed Forces have proved time and again that they are the bravest of the brave and the very best of what it means to be British. We can never fully repay the debt we owe them."

He added: "While we're in the park, at the cinema or watching the football, our servicemen and women are out there, day and night, fighting in the heat and dust, putting their lives on the line for us. That's the true character of the British Armed Forces - the Army, Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy - of which we are so incredibly proud. So today we stop to say thank you, and to remember those who are no longer with us but whose sacrifice and valour will be honoured long after we are gone."

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