Nicolas G. Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 Goodday Pals, Here are some photos of our local commemoration of the 11th of November in Le Hamel (Somme-France). I thought it could be interesting to share them and that moment with you. Would be nice if some of us could also display the same kind of pictures. Regards - Nicolas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Baker Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 Thanks Nicolas. Excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Birch Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 I have no photos, but I was in Bexhill on Sea (see previous thread) this morning on business and at 11 am stopped to join the short act of remembrance at the War Memorial on the sea front. There were about 15-20 British Legion veterans and maybe a similar number of general public of all age groups including myself. I was disappointed and surprised at the small turn out bearing in mind that Bexhill is primarily a medium sized retirement town, with the great majority having lived through WW2. Apart from one taxi who stopped, the remainder of the traffic including a municipal dust cart kept on driving past during the two minutes silence. The main noise however came from screeching seagulls disturbed by maroons which marked the start and finish! I was talking to someone afterwards who suggested that at this time of the year maybe we have too many acts of remembrance at different times and on different days? People who had already attended one last Sunday might not feel inclined to do it again today. There is the televised Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall on Saturday evening attended by the Queen, followed by the Cenotaph and War Memorials throught the country on Sunday again attended by the Queen, and then again more short acts throughout the country and the 2 minutes silence on 11 November. Maybe she had a point here and it would perhaps be more fitting for the country to hold one united act of remembrance timed to co-incide throughout the country and led by the Queen at the Cenotaph, to be held at 11 am on 11 November? To enable anyone who wanted to take part it would be nessessary to declare 11 November a Public Holiday, but at least it would concentrate Remembrance into one day and one specific time rather than the piecemeal situation which has arisen and leads to dilution. So far as I know Remembrance Day is a Public Holiday in a lot of other countries. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gem22 Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 Tim I agreee with what you say about Remembrance Day, but Remembrance Sunday is the day set aside as a day of national remembrance. To be honest I cannot remember when it was originally instigated. I do know that as a young serviceman in the early sixties we celebrated Remembrance Sunday back then. The difficulty has arisen because many old codgers, including me, actually prefer to commemorate Armistice Day. I've actually been to two ceremonies today, one at the village war memorial, and one in the local hospiatal after lunch. We have to hold it later than 11 o'clock because many people who attend the 11 o'clock ceremony want to go to both. By the way our local hospital was until a few years ago an RAF hospital. I truly feel that it would make much more sense to have Armistice Day as our day of national remembrance. Garth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john w. Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 Remembrance Day has for me been Sunday for a long time... At my village in Stock in Essex we meet on that Sunday and there are the British Legion, Scouts, Cubs and Guides. The number attending is always good, we sing and enjoy and remember. Photo of the service from Stock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john w. Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 The order of service... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeff Floyd Posted 11 November , 2003 Share Posted 11 November , 2003 Here in the US, Armistice Day was declared a day of remembrance by President Wilson in 1919 and became a federal holiday by law in 1938. In 1954, Congress changed the name to Veterans' Day to honor veterans of all wars. As a result, the connection with WWI is much less obvious, but it does bring out the broader span of veterans groups, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicolas G. Posted 13 November , 2003 Author Share Posted 13 November , 2003 Thank you John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 13 November , 2003 Share Posted 13 November , 2003 Tony Scala was looking for a US poppy, did not see one and do not remember when I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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