Lest we forget

Nov 11 2010 Buckinghamshire Examiner

ON THE 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the guns fell silent over Europe. The Armistice had been signed at 5am and the Great War ended six hours later.

The following year, King George V proclaimed the UK would observe a two-minute silence in honour and memory of the dead every year at that time. It is a tradition we are proud to continue to observe. Today (Thursday), and on Remembrance Sunday, people will gather at war memorials across the country to remember the fallen.

But in 2010, it is those who died in Afghanistan, as well as the many other conflicts in which British troops have laid down their lives, that we also remember.

As of November 9, a total of 343 British troops have been killed since that conflict began in October 2001.

As we put our busy lives on hold for two minutes today, we will be proud to remember them and the sacrifice they, and their loved ones, have made on our behalf.