Across the weekend, people will attend memorial services and parades and lay wreaths to mark Remembrance Day and Armistice Day
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, as the life and sacrifice of war heroes are remembered, the Commonwealth fell silent today. From villages and towns in the Pacific and the Caribbean, to cities in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, for two-minutes people paused to honour soldiers who sacrificed their lives for duty.
Across the weekend, people will also attend memorial services and parades and lay wreaths to mark Remembrance Day and Armistice Day. Millions are wearing poppies, which symbolise the millions of lives lost in conflicts across the globe and throughout the decades.
Paying tribute to the unsung war heroes of the Commonwealth, Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “ Today I want to remember the men and women from the Pacific, from the Caribbean, from Africa, from the Indian sub-continent, from Canada and from Europe, who did what many of us would never dare to do. They put their life on the line to protect us all.
“I want to remember the parents who buried their children, the spouses who lost their soulmates, and the brothers and sisters who are now without a sibling. Their pain and sorrow was the great price for our economic and social development and technological advancement, all of which would have been impossible without the peace and security purchased with the blood of these incredibly brave men and women who died in battle.”
On Commonwealth Day a service of remembrance marked the contribution made by the armed forces from Commonwealth countries spaning Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific during the First and Second World Wars. This is what some people had to say.
Commonwealth Day Memorial-
14 March 2016 - Memorial Gates, London, UK.