If you are here in the first half of the month you will see red paper flowers on every coat and may find the city falling silent at eleven o’clock, and it helps to know why
Remembrance in London: A Visitor’s Guide
Every year around this time I am asked the same question by visitors, usually on the second or third day of their trip. “Why is everyone wearing a red flower?”
It is a fair thing to wonder. From late October the newsreaders have one, the bus drivers have one, the man selling you a coffee has one. Then, on a particular morning in November, a whole railway station may stop moving and go quiet for two minutes while you stand there with your suitcase wondering what has happened.
Here is what is going on, and how to be a considerate guest while it does.
The Poppy
The red flower is a paper poppy. It is sold, or more exactly given in return for a donation, by a charity called the Royal British Legion, which supports people who have served in the armed forces and their families.
The charity’s own page gives this year’s dates. Poppies will be available from 22 October at supermarkets, high street shops and train stations. The appeal has run since 1921. It relies on tens of thousands of volunteer collectors, most of them retired, who stand with a tray and a tin.
The poppy is a symbol of remembrance for those who died in war, from the First World War onward. It comes from a poem written on the Western Front in 1915, about the poppies that grew among the soldiers’ graves in Flanders.
It is not a political badge and it does not signify support for any war. People of every opinion wear one.
Should a Visitor Wear One?
You may if you wish, and nobody will think it odd. Put some money in the tin, a pound or two is usual though many give more, and the collector will hand you a poppy and often a pin. It goes on the left side, though no one will mind where you put it.
You are equally free not to. Wearing a poppy is a personal choice and the charity itself says so. Plenty of Londoners do not.
The Two Dates
There are two occasions, and visitors often confuse them.
Armistice Day is 11 November. It marks the moment the fighting stopped in 1918: the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. This year it falls on a Wednesday. At eleven in the morning there is a two-minute silence.
Remembrance Sunday is the second Sunday of November, which this year is the eighth. That is the day of the main ceremonies, including the national one in London.
So there are two silences, three days apart.
The Silence
At eleven o’clock on both days, a great many people stop what they are doing and stand quietly for two minutes.
It is not enforced. But it is widely observed. In shops, an announcement may be made. In stations, people stand still on the concourse. Buses sometimes pull over. In offices, people rise at their desks.
If you find yourself in the middle of it, the courteous thing is simply to stop, stay quiet and wait. Do not carry on a telephone call. Two minutes is not long. You will know it is over when people begin to move.
I find it one of the most affecting things about the city. Nine million people, and for a hundred and twenty seconds you can hear the pigeons.
The Cenotaph
The national ceremony takes place at the Cenotaph, a plain stone monument in the middle of Whitehall, the wide street running from Trafalgar Square to Parliament.
On Remembrance Sunday the King lays a wreath, followed by other members of the Royal Family, political leaders and representatives of the Commonwealth. After the silence at eleven, some ten thousand veterans march past. The bands of the Guards play. It lasts most of the morning.
The night before, there is a Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, on 7 November this year. That is a ticketed event and is shown on television.
Can You Watch?
Yes. The ceremony is open to the public and free. You stand on the pavements of Whitehall. There are no tickets.
Some practical points.
Arrive early. People begin gathering from about eight in the morning, and the best positions go quickly. There are security checks, and large bags are not allowed.
The nearest stations are Westminster, Charing Cross and Embankment. Roads in the area are closed, so do not plan on a bus or taxi.
Dress warmly. You will be standing still for three hours in November.
Behave as you would at a funeral. It is a solemn occasion. People around you may be there for someone in particular. Photographs are fine. Running commentary is not.
If you would sooner not stand in a crowd, every district of London has its own smaller ceremony at a local war memorial at the same hour. They are often more moving.
Other Things to See
In the days before Remembrance Sunday, the lawn outside Westminster Abbey becomes the Field of Remembrance. Thousands of small wooden crosses and other markers, each with a poppy, are planted in plots for different regiments and services. It is free, open to all, and very quiet. Ten minutes there will tell you more than I can.
The Imperial War Museum in Lambeth is free and is the best place to understand the two world wars. Allow half a day.
And look for the memorials as you walk. They are everywhere once you start noticing: in railway stations, on the walls of banks and post offices, in every church. Paddington has a bronze soldier reading a letter from home.
Will Things Be Closed?
Hardly at all. Neither day is a public holiday. Shops, museums and restaurants open as normal. On the Sunday, roads around Whitehall and Westminster are closed until early afternoon, which affects buses and makes Parliament Square hard to reach. Westminster Abbey is closed to tourists on Sunday mornings in any case.
The diary of royal engagements for the period is busy, as you would expect.
A Word on Tone
Visitors from some countries are surprised by how understated it all is. There are no fireworks, no speeches from politicians at the Cenotaph, no cheering. The music is slow. The veterans are applauded as they pass, gently.
That restraint is the point. It is a day for the dead, not for the nation. If you understand that, you will not go wrong.
For a less reverent account of the British in November, The London Prat provides its British satirical news on tourists at the Cenotaph and its London satirical news about the eleventh hour. Bohiney Magazine covers the American equivalents, which come with a barbecue.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
