Remembrance Sunday
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In the United Kingdom Remembrance Sunday is the Sunday nearest to 11 November - Remembrance Day, which is the anniversary of when hostilities in the First World War ended at 11 a.m in 1918.
Each Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most towns and villages, attended by local civic dignitaries, veterans (principally the Royal British Legion), youth organisations (e.g. Scouts and Guides), and military cadet forces. Wreaths of poppies are laid on the memorials and a two-minutes silence is held at 11am.
The main national ceremony is held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London. The Ceremony is televised each year by the BBC from Whitehall, London, where wreaths are laid by the Queen, Prime Minister, leaders of major political parties, the Foreign Secretary, the Commonwealth High Commissioners and representatives from the military, the Merchant Air Force, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets and the Civilian Services. A two minutes silence is held at 11am. This silence is marked by the firing of a field gun on Horse Guards Parade to begin and end the silence, followed by Royal Marines buglers, playing the Last Post.
After the main Ceremony, a parade of veterans, organised by the Royal British Legion marches past the Cenotaph, each section of which lays a wreath as it passes.
From 1919 until 1945, it was traditional for Remembrance ceremonies to be held on Armistice Day itself, regardless of what day of the week it was; observance was then moved to Remembrance Sunday, but since the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 1995 it has become usual to hold ceremonies on both Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.
In 2006, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown proposed that in addition to Remembrance Sunday, a new national day to celebrate the achievements of veterans should be instituted. The "Veterans Day", to be held in the summer, will be similar to Veterans Day celebrations in the United States.