UK annual event, second Sunday in November
The
National Service of Remembrance
is held every year on
Remembrance Sunday
at
the Cenotaph
on
Whitehall
, London. It commemorates "the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts".
[1]
It takes place on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11 November,
Armistice Day
,
[a]
the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the
First World War
at 11 a.m. in 1918.
The service has its origins in the 1920s and has changed little in format since. To open the ceremony, a selection of national airs and solemn music representing each of the nations of the United Kingdom are played by massed bands and pipes. A short religious service is held with a
two-minute silence
commencing when
Big Ben
chimes at 11 am. Following this, wreaths are laid by
the King
and members of the
royal family
, senior politicians representing their respective political parties and
High commissioners
from the
Commonwealth of Nations
. After a short religious service, a march-past of hundreds of veterans processes past the Cenotaph. The ceremony has been broadcast nationally by the
BBC
on radio since 1928 and was first broadcast by the BBC Television Service in 1937.
[2]
Origins
[
edit
]
The Cenotaph
has its origin in a temporary wood and plaster structure designed by
Edwin Lutyens
for a peace parade following the end of the
First World War
.
[3]
Lutyens was inspired by the Greek idea of a
cenotaph
Greek
:
κενοτ?φιον
kenotaphion
(κεν??
kenos
, meaning "empty", and τ?φο?
taphos
, "tomb"),
[4]
as representative for a tomb elsewhere or in a place unknown. For some time after the parade, the base of the memorial was covered with flowers and wreaths by members of the public. Pressure mounted to retain it, and the British
War Cabinet
decided on 30 July 1919 that a permanent memorial should replace the wooden version and be designated Britain's official national war memorial.
[5]
Lutyens's permanent structure was built from
Portland stone
between 1919 and 1920 by
Holland, Hannen & Cubitts
as a "replica exact in every detail in permanent material of present temporary structure".
[6]
[7]
[8]
The memorial was unveiled by
King George V
on 11 November 1920, the second anniversary of the
Armistice with Germany
which ended the
First World War
.
[9]
The unveiling ceremony was part of a larger procession bringing
the Unknown Warrior
to be laid to rest in his tomb nearby in
Westminster Abbey
. The funeral procession route passed the Cenotaph, where the waiting King laid a wreath on the Unknown Warrior's gun-carriage before proceeding to unveil the memorial which was draped in large
Union Flags
.
[10]
During the
Second World War
, the National Service and other commemorations were moved from Armistice Day itself to the preceding Sunday as an emergency measure, to minimise any loss of wartime production. In 1945, 11 November fell on a Sunday but in 1946, following a national debate, the government announced that the Cenotaph ceremony would henceforward on take place on Remembrance Sunday.
[11]
Order of service
[
edit
]
The ceremony begins at precisely 10:36 a.m. with a programme of music known as "the Traditional Music", a sequence beginning with "
Rule Britannia!
" which has remained largely unchanged since 1930.
[12]
This comprises a selection of National
Airs
and solemn music representing the four nations of the
United Kingdom
performed by the massed bands of the
Household Division
interposed Pipes and Drums from the
Highlanders 4th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland
. The massed band represents the four nations; the
Band of the Grenadier Guards
,
Band of the Coldstream Guards
,
Band of the Scots Guards
and the
Band of the Irish Guards
.
[13]
[14]
As the band plays "
Dido's Lament
" by
Henry Purcell
, the clergy led by a cross-bearer and the choir of the
Chapel Royal
process. The service is led by the Dean of the Chapels Royal, usually the
Bishop of London
. During
Solemn Melody
by
Henry Walford Davies
, politicians, high commissioners and religious leaders from many faiths assemble, joined by
humanists
representing the non-religious.
[15]
The parade stands to attention in silence as the Royal Family emerge.
[16]
As
Big Ben
strikes 11 a.m., the
King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery
fire a single shot salute from First World War-era guns on
Horse Guards Parade
.
Two minutes' silence
is then observed. The silence represents the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, when the guns of Europe fell silent.
[17]
This silence is ended by Gunners of the Royal Horse Artillery firing a gun salute, then
Royal Marines
buglers
sound the
Last Post
.
[18]
The first wreath is traditionally laid on behalf of the nation by
His Majesty The King
, followed by other members of the Royal Family.
On two occasions foreign heads of state have laid wreaths on behalf of their people. In 2015,
Willem-Alexander
,
King of the Netherlands
, placed a wreath in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the
British liberation
of the
Netherlands
in World War II.
[19]
At the 2018 service,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
,
President of Germany
, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of her government, next laid a wreath on behalf of the
German
people, marking the first time a representative of that country has done so.
[20]
[14]
Wreaths are then laid by senior members of the
royal family
. After The King,
The Queen
's wreath is laid on her behalf; followed by the
Prince of Wales
, the
Duke of Edinburgh
, the
Princess Royal
, the
Duke of Kent
and (in 2018)
Prince Michael of Kent
.
[21]
The Queen and other members of the Royal Family watch the ceremony from the
Foreign Office
balcony.
The Massed Band plays "Beethoven Funeral March No.1" by
Johann Heinrich Walch
as wreaths laid by the
Prime Minister
on behalf of
His Majesty's Government
(and other Commonwealth leaders if they are present
[22]
), the
Leader of the Opposition
, then leaders of major political parties; the
Speaker of the House of Commons
and the
Lord Speaker
; the
Foreign Secretary
; the
Home Secretary
(in 2019);
Commonwealth High Commissioners
, plus the former living UK prime ministers (
John Major
,
Tony Blair
,
Gordon Brown
,
David Cameron
,
Theresa May
,
Boris Johnson
and
Liz Truss
) and the ambassadors of
Ireland
(since 2014) and
Nepal
(since 2019);
[23]
[24]
representatives from the
Royal Navy
,
Army
and
Royal Air Force
; the
Merchant Navy
and fishing fleets; and finally, the civilian
emergency services
.
[14]
A short religious service of remembrance is then conducted by the
Bishop of London
in their capacity as
Dean of the Chapel Royal
. The hymn
O God Our Help In Ages Past
is sung, led by the massed bands and the Choir of the Chapel Royal.
[25]
The whole assembly recites
Lord's Prayer
before the Bishop completes the service.
The Rouse
is then played by the buglers, followed by the
national anthem
being sung by all. The King and the other members of the Royal Family salute the Cenotaph and the royal party depart.
[16]
[14]
After the ceremony, as the bands play a selection of marches and arrangements of WWI and WWII-era popular songs, a huge parade of veterans, organised by the
Royal British Legion
, marches past the Cenotaph, saluting as they pass. Members of the
Reserve Forces
and
cadet
organisations join in with the marching, alongside volunteers from
St John Ambulance
,
paramedics
from the
London Ambulance Service
, and conflict veterans from
World War II
,
Korea
,
the Falklands
, the
Persian Gulf
,
Kosovo
,
Bosnia
,
Northern Ireland
,
Iraq
,
Afghanistan
and other past conflicts. The last three then known British-resident veterans of World War I,
Bill Stone
,
Henry Allingham
and
Harry Patch
, attended the 2008 ceremony but all died in 2009.
Each contingent salutes the Cenotaph as they pass and many wreaths are handed over to be laid at its base. They salute the
Cenotaph
(meaning "empty tomb" in Greek) as they are paying tribute to all those it represents, to all those who died and who lie buried elsewhere. As the veterans march back to
Horse Guards Parade
a member of the Royal Family takes their salute in front of the
Guards Memorial
.
[16]
Professor Jeffrey Richards
notes that the format of the ceremony was "more or less finalized by 1921" although before the Second World War, the wreath-laying by the monarch and dignitaries took place before 11 am.
[12]
Traditional music
[
edit
]
Each year, the programme of music at the National Ceremony remains the same, following a programme finalised in 1930, and is known as "the Traditional Music":
[12]
Other pieces of music are then played during the unofficial wreath laying and the march past of the veterans, starting with "
Trumpet Voluntary
" and followed by "
It's a Long Way to Tipperary
", the marching song of the
Connaught Rangers
, a famous British Army Irish Regiment of long ago and by the
Royal British Legion March
, the official march of the official organiser of the ceremony, the
Royal British Legion
, which is a medley of marches of the First and Second World Wars.
[44]
Television and radio coverage
[
edit
]
BBC Radio
has broadcast the service on the
BBC National Programme
and its successors, the
BBC Home Service
and
BBC Radio 4
, every year since November 1928, except during World War II.
[45]
[46]
John Reith
had wished to broadcast the service for many years, and upon the formation of the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1927 was involved with negotiations with the
Home Office
, but these broke down and it was only permitted the following year in 1928.
[46]
Adrian Gregory notes that the paradox of broadcasting two minute's
silence
was not lost on the BBC's sound engineers, who had to ensure that there was enough ambient sound (the "strange hush") to capture the solemnity of the moment.
[46]
The ceremony was first broadcast by
BBC Television
in 1937 and again in 1938.
[2]
Three
EMI Super-Emitron
cameras first used for the earliest outside broadcast of the
Coronation Procession of King George VI
in May 1937 were used, relayed via the BBC's Mobile Control Room scanner van, which two days earlier had also broadcast the
Lord Mayor's Show
for the first time.
[2]
[47]
The BBC Television Service was suspended at the outbreak of World War II and the broadcast resumed in November 1946 when
George VI
unveiled the addition of the dates of that conflict, MCMXXXIX (1939) to MCMXLV (1945) to the Cenotaph.
[48]
It has been televised every year since, making the broadcast one of the longest-running live broadcasts in the world.
[49]
In the post-war period,
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
and latterly
Richard Dimbleby
were commentators.
Tom Fleming
commentated annually between 1966 and 1988, and again from 1994 to 1999.
David Dimbleby
, the eldest son of Richard Dimbleby, first provided the commentary on the event in 1989, and has done so every year since 2000;
Eric Robson
commentated in 1991 and 1993.
[50]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
These two statements are in effect the same: the second Sunday is always between 8 and 14 November inclusive, so the second Sunday is no more than three days away from 11 November, and therefore always the Sunday nearest to 11 November.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Remembrance Sunday"
. Department for Culture Media and Sport
. Retrieved
10 November
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
"The Cenotaph on Screen"
.
Radio Times
. 5 November 1937.
- ^
"All London Silent at Armistice Hour"
.
The New York Times
. 12 November 1919.
- ^
Whitney, William Dwight (1914),
The Century Dictionary: The Century dictionary
, Century Company, p. 882
- ^
Greenberg, Allan (1989). "Lutyens's Cenotaph".
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
.
48
(1): 5?23.
doi
:
10.2307/990403
.
JSTOR
990403
.
- ^
Lancaster, G. B. (31 October 1919).
"The Glorious Dead"
.
Ashburton Guardian
. Vol. XL, no. 9146. p. 7
. Retrieved
3 July
2011
.
- ^
Gliddon, Gerald; Skelton, Timothy John (2008). "Southampton and London: A Tale of Two Cenotaphs".
Lutyens and the Great War
. London: Frances Lincoln. pp. 36?47.
ISBN
978-0-7112-2878-8
.
- ^
Cubitts: Its Inception and Development
. London: Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd. 1920. p. 10.
- ^
"The Unknown Warrior"
.
BBC History
. Retrieved
3 July
2011
.
- ^
Hornby, Martin (7 July 2008).
The Burial of the Unknown Warrior
. The Western Front Association
. Retrieved
25 July
2011
.
- ^
Cecil, Hugh (1998).
At the Eleventh Hour
. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. p. 358.
ISBN
978-0850526448
.
- ^
a
b
c
Richards, Jeffrey (2001).
Imperialism and Music: Britain 1876?1953
. Manchester University Press. pp. 155?156.
ISBN
0-7190-4506-1
.
- ^
"2017 National Act of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall"
.
HRH Countess of Wessex unofficial website
. 11 November 2017.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cenotaph 2018 Remembrance service London
(video). London: John Steed on YouTube. 11 November 2018. Archived from
the original
on 14 November 2018
. Retrieved
14 November
2018
.
- ^
Clinton, Jane (17 October 2018).
"Humanists will join Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph for first time"
.
- ^
a
b
c
Dimbleby, David (presenter) (2017).
2017 UK Remembrance Sunday London
(video). BBC – via Youtube.
- ^
"Remembrance ? The two minutes' silence"
. Retrieved
11 November
2007
.
- ^
BBC News ? Remembrance Sunday ? 2 minute silence ? Big Ben and Cannons
(video). London: Kent Rail, on YouTube. 13 November 2018. Archived from
the original
on 14 November 2018
. Retrieved
14 November
2018
.
- ^
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima Join Royals For Remembrance Sunday
- ^
"Charles leads nation in tribute at London cenotaph ? but Prince Philip absent"
.
The News Letter
. 11 November 2018
. Retrieved
11 November
2018
.
- ^
"Royal Family lay wreaths at Cenotaph"
.
BBC News
. Retrieved
10 November
2018
.
- ^
"War dead honoured at the Cenotaph"
.
BBC News
. 12 November 2006
. Retrieved
14 November
2016
.
- ^
Hennessy, Mark (9 November 2014).
"Irish ambassador lays wreath at London ceremony"
.
The Irish Times
.
- ^
"Remembrance Sunday: Royal Family lead tributes to nation's war dead"
.
BBC News
. 10 November 2019.
- ^
"The Chapels Royal"
.
royal.gov.uk
.
- ^
Scholes, Percy A (1970).
The Oxford Companion to Music
(tenth ed.).
Oxford University Press
. p. 897.
- ^
"Rule Britannia"
.
The Britannia and Castle: Norfolk Section
. 2002. Archived from
the original
on 22 November 2009
. Retrieved
16 July
2015
.
- ^
Romer, Megan.
"The Minstrel Boy"
.
World Music, About.com
. About.com
. Retrieved
10 March
2015
.
- ^
Fuld, James J.,
The Book of World-famous Music: classical, popular, and folk
, Dover, 5th ed. 2000, p. 394
- ^
The Oxford Companion to British History
. Oxford University Press (1997) page 454
- ^
Matthew Bennett
Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare
(2001)
- ^
Anne Shaw Faulkner,
What We Hear in Music: A Course of Study in Music Appreciation and History
, RCA Victor, 12th edition 1943, p 41
- ^
"Ballads Catalogue: Harding B 15(182a)"
. Bodley24.bodley.ox.ac.uk
. Retrieved
1 September
2012
.
- ^
"Isle of Beauty"
.
National Library of Australia Trove
. 1 November 2018.
- ^
"absence, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, July 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/645. Accessed 1 November 2018.
- ^
Befriend a church
, BBC North Wales, accessed 5 August 2010
- ^
Skene mandora manuscript
, Edinburgh,
National Library of Scotland
ms adv.5.2.15
- ^
Songs of Praise Discussed, published 1933,1950, page 167
- ^
O Valiant Hearts
- ^
Solemn Melody
(Henry Walford Davies)
: Scores at the
International Music Score Library Project
- ^
"The Last Post ? Australian War Memorial"
.
www.awm.gov.au
.
- ^
Rivington Holmes, Richard (1911).
Edward VII: His Life and Times
. Vol. 2. Carmelite House. p. 462.
- ^
"Remembrance Sunday 2016"
.
GOV.UK
. Retrieved
10 November
2018
.
- ^
"BBC Radio broadcasts of the Cenotaph service"
.
BBC Genome Project
. 3 November 2018.
- ^
a
b
c
Gregory, Adrian (2014).
The Silence of Memory: Armistice Day, 1919-1946
. A&C Black.
ISBN
9781472578006
.
- ^
"MCRs 1 and 2"
.
TV OB History
. 3 November 2018.
- ^
"Remembrance Day, BBC Television, 10 November 1946"
.
Radio Times
. No. 1206. 8 November 1946. p. 35.
- ^
Vaughan-Barratt, Nick (4 November 2009).
"Remembrance"
.
BBC Blogs
.
- ^
"BBC Broadcasts of the Cenotaph"
.
BBC Genome Project
. 3 November 2018.
External links
[
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]