angelophile | “If we are to maintain our peace and freedom, we must always remember.”

The First World War finally ended after four long and bloody years of fighting, on November 11 1918. The guns stopped on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

November 11 was chosen back in 1919 as the special day each year when we would all think about and remember those who had died. At 11am on November 11 many people across Britain stay silent for two minutes to think about those who died.

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row...'

The Royal British Legion use money raised on Poppy Day and at other events through the year to help thousands of ex-soldiers and their families. They also organise festivals, parades and church services of Remembrance.

The observance of a silence, heads bowed in reflection and prayer - these and other solemn acts transcend boundaries and borders. In themselves, they may amount to small individual acts. Carried out at the same time, they can go from “individual” to “collective” - rare moments when whole nations can stand together, remember and reflect on the price and value of freedom.