Accessibility options

Queen at First World War memorial

Date: 11/11/2009 08:55:04

Search: First World War veterans

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are joining senior politicians and the heads of the armed forces at a memorial service to mark the passing of the First World War generation.

The ceremony at Westminster Abbey in central London is being held following the deaths this year of the final three veterans of the war living in the UK.

William Stone died in January, aged 108, followed in July by Henry Allingham, 113, and Harry Patch, 111.

The service, being held exactly 91 years after the guns fell silent, will recognise the contributions of both the Armed Forces and civilians during the First World War.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Duchess of Gloucester, patron of the World War One Veterans Association, will be among the British and foreign dignitaries.

The head of the Armed Forces, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, will attend alongside the chiefs of staff of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the Army, General Sir David Richards, and the Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton.

Meanwhile, British soldiers serving in Afghanistan have already commemorated Armistice Day with a two-minute silence.

At the operational headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, the men and women of 11 Light Brigade stood still and bowed their heads.

Advertisement starts


Advertisement

Advertisement ends

At exactly 11am local time work came to a halt as servicemen and women around the base took time out to pay their respects.

At Camp Bastion, a 105mm light gun marked the beginning of the silence. From the cook house to the postal centre to the training ground, soldiers took a moment to remember the dead.

2012 © Press Association

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Advertisement starts


Advertisement

Advertisement ends

  • Man shot in pub in Manchester
    Man shot in pub in Manchester
    The victim, named by sources as 23-year-old Mark Short, was gunned down in the Cotton Tree pub in Market Street, Droylsden, Greater Manchester shortly before 11.50pm yesterday.Three other men, believed to be related to Mr Short, were also injured and are
  • Oldest woman defeats Everest again
    Oldest woman defeats Everest again
    Watanabe reached the summit from the Tibetan side on 19 May, at the age of 73 years and 180 days. That day, more than 200 climbers were aiming for the summit on the busier southern route in Nepal. Four died, apparently from altitude sickness and exhaustio
  • Gazza get his tongue out again
    Gazza get his tongue out again
    Gazza, capped 57 times, last appeared in an England shirt against Belgium in 1998 and now he wears the Three Lions once more as England gears up for Europe?s biggest football tournament
  • The Saturdays love Louboutin
    The Saturdays love Louboutin
    The Saturdays attended the launch of the 20th anniversary of Christian Louboutin's work in the industry
arrow
Man shot in pub in Manchester
The victim, named by sources as 23-year-old Mark Short, was gunned down in the Cotton Tree pub in Market Street, Droylsden, Greater Manchester shortly before 11.50pm yesterday.Three other men, believed to be related to Mr Short, were also injured and are

5 day forecastMy local weather

Partly Cloudy
London
min: 14º
max:26º
 
 

Daily Pictures

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Page Footer


Access keys


You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
  • (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
  • (1) Navigate to Home page.
  • (2) Navigate to My email.
  • (3) Navigate to My Account.
  • (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
  • (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
  • (6) Navigate to Members channel.
  • (7) Navigate to Services channel.
  • (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
  • (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
  • ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
  • (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
  • (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
  • (x) Text only version of this page.