Britain’s Remembrance Day held amid tightened security
Print Edition
QUEEN Elizabeth II led Britain in silent paying tribute to the Commonwealth war dead on Remembrance Sunday, an event made even more poignant on the centenary of the start of World War I.
The 88-year-old monarch, senior royals and politicians including Prime Minister David Cameron laid wreaths at the Cenotaph national war memorial in London, as hundreds of veterans from more than 70 years of conflicts looked on.
Security was tighter than normal amid heightened fears of the risk of a terror attack, but there was no change to the customary program of marches and military music.
A 13-pounder World War I gun was fired at 11am, marking the start of 2 minutes’ silence observed by millions of people across the UK and at British military bases around the world.
Remembrance Sunday is the Sunday closest to Armistice Day on November 11, the anniversary of the 1918 signing of the peace that ended World War I.
More than 1 million people from the British empire died in the conflict, but the day has become a time to remember all the troops killed in wars since.
It is thought there has been only one year — 1968 — without a British military fatality on active service since the end of World War II in 1945.
Cameron said the ceremonies were “particularly poignant” as this year is the centenary of the start of World War I, the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the end of Britain’s combat role in Afghanistan.
“Today we stand united to remember the courageous men and women who have served our country, defended our freedoms and kept us safe,” he said.
“We remember all those who have fallen and who have risked their lives to protect us.”
Security this year was intensified following fears the event could be a target for attack.
Police arrested four men last Thursday on suspicion of “Islamist-related terrorism.”
Scotland Yard said it had an “appropriate and proportionate” policing plan in place.
The queen laid the first wreath followed by her husband Prince Philip, 93, her son and heir Prince Charles and grandson Prince William.
Forty-six high commissioners from Commonwealth countries then each laid a wreath, and in a sign of the improved relations between Ireland and Britain, the Irish ambassador laid a wreath for the first time in honour of thousands of Irishmen who died in British uniform.
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