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.

Wordless Wednesday (Compromise reached over couch.)

Bonfire Night.

In 1605, thirteen young men planned to blow up
the Houses of Parliament. Among them was
Guy Fawkes, Britain's most notorious traitor.

After Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, English Catholics who had been persecuted under her rule had hoped that her successor, James I, would be more tolerant of their religion. James I had, after all, had a Catholic mother. Unfortunately, James did not turn out to be more tolerant than Elizabeth and a number of young men, 13 to be exact, decided that violent action was the answer.

A small group took shape, under the leadership of Robert Catesby. Catesby felt that violent action was warranted. Indeed, the thing to do was to blow up the Houses of Parliament. In doing so, they would kill the King, maybe even the Prince of Wales, and the Members of Parliament who were making life difficult for the Catholics. Today these conspirators would be known as extremists, or terrorists.

To carry out their plan, the conspirators got hold of 36 barrels of gunpowder - and stored them in a cellar, just under the House of Lords.

But as the group worked on the plot, it became clear that innocent people would be hurt or killed in the attack, including some people who even fought for more rights for Catholics. Some of the plotters started having second thoughts. One of the group members even sent an anonymous letter warning his friend, Lord Monteagle, to stay away from the Parliament on November 5th. Was the letter real?

The warning letter reached the King, and the King's forces made plans to stop the conspirators.

Guy Fawkes, who was in the cellar of the parliament with the 36 barrels of gunpowder when the authorities stormed it in the early hours of November 5th, was caught, tortured and executed.

It's unclear if the conspirators would ever have been able to pull off their plan to blow up the Parliament even if they had not been betrayed. Some have suggested that the gunpowder itself was so old as to be useless. Since Guy Fawkes and the other conspirators got caught before trying to ignite the powder, we'll never know for certain.

Even for the period which was notoriously unstable, the Gunpowder Plot struck a very profound chord for the people of England. In fact, even today, the reigning monarch only enters the Parliament once a year, on what is called "the State Opening of Parliament". Prior to the Opening, and according to custom, the Yeomen of the Guard search the cellars of the Palace of Westminster. Nowadays, the Queen and Parliament still observe this tradition.

On the very night that the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, on November 5th, 1605, bonfires were set alight to celebrate the safety of the King. Since then, November 5th has become known as Bonfire Night. The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes' execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government

For 400 years, bonfires have burned
on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot.

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving. As years progressed, however, the ritual became more elaborate.

Soon, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire (and even those of a contemporary politician or two), although the gesture is seen by most as a quirky tradition, rather than an expression of hostility towards the Pope.

Preparations for Bonfire Night celebrations include making a dummy of Guy Fawkes, which is called "the Guy". Some children even keep up an old tradition of walking in the streets, carrying "the Guy" they have just made, and beg passersby for "a penny for the Guy." The kids use the money to buy fireworks for the evening festivities.

On the night itself, Guy is placed on top of the bonfire, which is then set alight; and fireworks displays fill the sky.

The extent of the celebrations and the size of the bonfire varies from one community to the next. Lewes, in the South East of England, is famous for its Bonfire Night festivities and consistently attracts thousands of people each year to participate.

Bonfire Night is not only celebrated in Britain. The tradition crossed the oceans and established itself in the British colonies during the centuries. It was actively celebrated in New England as "Pope Day" as late as the 18th century. Today, November 5th bonfires still light up in far out places like New Zealand and Newfoundland in Canada.