Remembrance Sunday.

Each year in November, the United Kingdom remembers the men and women who gave their lives in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts.

11 November is known as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day. And in Australia and New Zealand as ANZAC Day which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is commemorated in both countries. It is there day for remembering all those people who fought and died in many wars for freedom of all people and to stop injustice.

In New Zealand it is celebrated with dawn services at the cenotaphs and at NZ embassies around the world. The poppy is used as a symbol of remembrance.

During the First World War, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. In many parts of the world, people observe a two-minute of silence at 11am on 11 November.

Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11 November. Remembrance Sunday sees special events and services relating to remembrance. Remembrance Sunday is on 11 November 2012.

War Memorial London.

Cenotaph, London.

Two Minute Silence.

At 11am on each remembrance day Sunday a two minute silence is observed at war memorials and other public spaces across the the UK.

The first two minute silence in London ( 11th November 1919 ) as reported in the Manchester Guardian, 12th November 1919.

The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect.

The tram cars glided into stillness , motors ceased to cough and fume., and stopped dead, and the mighty - limbed dray horses hunched back upon their loads and stopped also, seeming to do it of their own volition.

Someone took off his hat, and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of attention . An elderly women not far away, wiped her eyes and the men dehind her looked white  and stern. Everyone stood very still  ... The hush deepened. It had spread over the whole city and become so pronounced as to impress one with a sense of audibility. It was a silence which was almost pain ... And the spirit of memory brooded over it all.

The Last Post.

The "Last Post" is traditionally played to introduce the two minute silence in Remembrence Day ceremonies. It is usually played on a bugle. In Military life the Last Post marks the end of the day and the final farewell.

And lets not forget about the animals who suffered during the wars. While the Red Cross were helping the troops on the battlefield the Blue Cross Fund was set up to help the animals.

The fund had been set up by Our Dumb Friends League, which was the original name for Blue Cross, in the 1912 Balkan War.

It was quickly reopened again when the First World War broke out and it allowed us to send veterinary supplies to the front line.

When we discovered that the French army was not as well equipped to help horses as the British army, we offered to help and opened our first of several animal hospitals in France.

Money and goods for the fund came from hundreds of different sources, including the sale of postcards.

By the end of the war in 1918, nearly £170,000 had been raised through the fund to care for animals of war, equivalent to nearly £6.5 million today.

More than 50,000 horses were treated in Blue Cross hospitals in France alone and veterinary supplies were received by more than 3,500 units of the British army.

The importance of the work of the Blue Cross Fund during both World Wars was recognised when we changed our name to The Blue Cross in the 1950s.

We’ve been caring for animals for 115 years and today we’re still as devoted to helping sick, injured and abandoned pets as we have ever been.

With no government funding, we rely on public donations to continue our vital work.

For more information about the War Horses click here.