Governments, citizens and armed forces around the world are preparing to pay tribute to those who died in the course of World War I & II.
Armistice Day commemorates the signing of the peace treaty which marked the end of World War I on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
Different ceremonies will take place across the world from harbour-side memorials to wreath laying in capital cities.
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France
The President of the French Republic will preside over a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Thursday November 11th 2010, commemorating the 92nd anniversary of the Armistice of 1918.
During the ceremony, special tribute will be made to school and university students in Paris who, on 11th November 1940, celebrated the armistice of 1918. Their initiative, and the repression that followed, have become a symbol of resistance in France.
Armistice Day Program for Paris November 11th 2010
10:30: Wreath laying at the foot of the statue Georges Clemenceau
10:50: Arrival of the President of the Republic on the Place Charles de Gaulle
Review of the troops
11:00: Remembrance ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe
- Wreath laying
- Rekindling the flame
- Signing of the guestbook
- Unveiling of a plaque commemorating the event, 11 November 1940
Serbia
The Serbian military sent this message:
The area of tradition in the Republic of Serbia is under the control of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, but the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia also give importance to culture and traditions – though primarily those of the military.
In accordance with the State program of historic events marking the anniversary of the liberation wars of Serbia and the International program of activities dedicated to the preservation of a dignified remembrance of victims of armed conflicts in the past, the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Serbian Army are actively involved in marking
Armistice Day in World War I.A special reverence is given to all victims of war and the Serbian golgotha particularly given the fact that it had lost a large percentage of its population and suffered heavy material damage from which it has been recovering for many years.
Every year on November 11th, the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia take part in commemorative ceremonies, which are organized in memory of this event, which is of great significance for all of Europe.
Armistice day events in Serbia:
- The Central State memorial ceremony is held in the Charnel-house of defenders of Belgrade in Belgrade, with the presence of representatives of the diplomatic and military corps in Serbia, state and local governments and NGOs.
- A wreath laying ceremony is also organized at the monument to the Unknown Soldier on the mountain of Avala.
- A delegation of the Ministry of Defense and the Army of Serbia is attending the commemoration, organized by foreign embassies in the cemeteries of their fallen soldiers in World War I in our region (the Commonwealth Cemetery, the French military cemetery and the Memorial charnel-house of the Russian soldiers killed in World War I).
- On the eve of Armistice Day in World War I honorary artillery firing is symbolically made from the Sava’s terrace of the Kalemegdan fortress in Belgrade.
United Kingdom
England
13th November 2010
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, The Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent will all attend the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
The Princess Royal, Patron, Association of Wrens, will also attend a 90th Anniversary Service of Commemoration at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2.
14th November
The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, The Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Duke of Kent will all attend the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph Memorial in Whitehall, London. The Duke of Gloucester will witness the Cenotaph from the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices, Whitehall, London SW1.
Scotland
Thursday 11th November
Garden of Remembrance, Princes Street Gardens East, Edinburgh. A two minute silence will be
observed at 11am. The Edinburgh Castle Gun will mark the start and end of the silence
A two minute silence will be observed in cities and towns across Scotland.
Sunday 14th November
Scotland’s national service of remembrance will take place at 11am at the Stone of Remembrance
on High Street, Edinburgh. A two minute silence will be observed and wreaths will be laid. A church
service will follow in St Giles Cathedral.
Services of remembrance will also take place in cities and towns across Scotland.
New Zealand
Wreath-laying ceremonies mark Armistice Day at the National War Memorial in Wellington and at many local War Memorials throughout New Zealand.
As part of these ceremonies, two minutes silence is observed at 11 am on 11 November in memory of those New Zealanders who died while serving their country.
Armistice Day 2010 in New Zealand will be observed at:
- National War Memorial, Buckle Street, Wellington
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, The Auckland Domain, Parnell, Auckland
- Unveiling Passchendaele Memorial, Kiwi Rail Mechanical Hutt Workshops Memorial Garden, Elizabeth Street, Moera, Lower Hutt
Australia
A group of high school students will join more than 40 ex-commandos in a special Remembrance Day Ceremony beside the celebrated WWII commando boat Krait at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia on Thursday (11 Nov).
The students will participate in the ceremony, delivering two short Remembrance Day addresses, reading from the Bible and joining with the retired servicemen to lay wreaths on the vessel.
MV Krait, a converted Japanese fishing boat, was central to the covert Operation Jaywick in September 1943.
Under disguise as a fishing boat, Krait transported Z Special Force personnel from Australia to Singapore where operatives struck out in small canoes attaching limpet mines to Japanese vessels, which sank and damaged 37,000 tonnes of Japanese shipping.
One of the three Jaywick personnel still surviving, radio operator Horrie Young, will be present at Thursday’s Krait ceremony.
Earlier this month, Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, His Excellency Ian Kemish AM, presented commemorative medals to six “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels” of Papua New Guinea who helped the Australian diggers in their fight against Japan on the Kokoda trail.
America
On Tuesday 9th November, 10,000 care packages were stuffed by Coca-Cola to send to troops worldwide via the United Service Organisation. The stuffing party was followed by the Sixth Annual VIP Veterans Day Dinner at Coca-Cola.
On Wednesday 10th November, Sloan Gibson, President of the United Service Organizations (USO), will provide a keynote address as part of the Coca-Cola’s Veterans Day observance. Gibson will be joined by Sandy Douglas, President of the North America Group, and Steve Cahillane, President and CEO of Coca-Cola Refreshments. The 82nd Airborne Division “All-American” Chorus will also present a moving a cappella performance.
On Sunday 13th November, Georgia Veterans Day Parade Association will hold the 2010 Georgia Veterans Day Parade and 2010 Freedom Ball. The Grand Marshal for the event will be R. Lee Ermey aka “Gunny” who served in the US Marine Crops for eleven years and played military roles in major blockbuster films Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. He is now a brand ambassador for Glock – the US handgun manufacturer.
