Nation to fall silent in honour of millions who fell

Since last year’s Armistice Day, another seven members of the British armed forces have died in service - including five who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in April.

Richard Hughes, of the Western Front Association, said this year’s commemorations were not just about the First World War.

He said: “We have got the modern version here with us stepping back from Afghanistan. That itself has tremendous resonance.”

Armistice Day has been marked on the November 11 every year since 1919 - a year after the Allied forces signed an agreement that would end the Great War.

Although at first ex-servicemen wanted to forget the experiences of war, a decade later remembrance became more popular.

Stephen Clarke, of the British Legion, said, “By the late 1920s, veterans wanted to renew the special bonds of comradeship.”

At the Royal Armouries in Leeds, poppies will be dropped during a service on Tuesday which is open to all from 10.30am.

In Hebden Bridge, a sand sculpture depicting the moment when a wife learns of her soldier husband’s death has been re-worked to show the woman aged 90.

In Hull, the ‘Pals’ Battalions of the Great War were honoured with a plaque at Wenlock Barracks, currently home of 250 Medical Squadron.

Private John Robinson, who suggested the plaque, said: “It’s sobering to hear of the number of volunteers who crowded this very barracks almost exactly 100 years ago.”

In Barnsley, more than 200 wire poppies made by primary school children have been placed outside the town hall.