Lest We Forget: Pomp, Circumstance, and Poppies
By the end of the First World War, almost 25 percent of the British male population had served in the war effort and by the end of the Second World War, 12 percent of the male population had served and another seven million women had been involved in “war work.”1 As a result, every family in Britain was affected by the wars, even before considering the civilian and local impact of the wars, such as the German bombing of the U.K., known as the Blitz. Therefore, British military remembrance is a large part of the fabric of the lives of the people of the U.K.
British Remembrance Sunday
The First World War ended in 1918 at 11:00 a.m. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Every year Britain observes this moment with Remembrance Sunday, held on the Sunday closest to 11 November. Services are held in major cities and places of worship.
At 11:00 a.m., at the first stroke of Big Ben, the Great Clock of Westminster, a two-minute silence begins. It memorializes those who gave their lives for the freedom of others. This tradition began in 1919, as proclaimed by King George V. The silence is broken by the haunting notes of the bugle call, the “Last Post.” Then members of royalty, government leaders, and representatives of the Commonwealth nations lay poppy wreaths at a memorial called the Cenotaph in London. Finally, 10,000 veterans and others form columns on Horse Guards Parade and march past the Cenotaph, where the Royal Family watches and receives salutes.
Poppy Flowers: Symbolism and Significance in Remembrance
Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of the First World War, is symbolized by a red poppy. The symbol was inspired by a poem, “In Flanders Fields,” written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae after he saw poppies growing in battle-scarred fields. (Click here to read the poem in full.)
Royal British Legion Poppies.2
In the weeks before Armistice Day, millions of poppies are sold throughout the U.K. Usually worn on the lapel, they represent a way to honor and remember the sacrifice of generations of service personnel and their families in all wars, not just the First World War. The poppies serve a more practical purpose than purely symbolic, as proceeds from their sale help fund care for veterans and military personnel.
One hundred years after the start of the First World War, 888,246 red ceramic poppies were individually placed in the moat surrounding the Tower of London. They spilled out of a window to look like the “gushing blood” of the fallen.3 At the end of the installation, the poppies were sold with the proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.
2014 poppies at the Tower of London, courtesy of LTG researcher.
British Remembrance Traditions and Commemorations
Although a two-minute silence is held on Remembrance Sunday, it is also held at 11 a.m. on 11 November each year as well as on major memorial days such as VE Day (Victory in Europe Day) and VJ Day (Victory in Japan Day), the two days celebrating the end of the Second World War. Shops announce the silence on their tannoys (public address systems), as do railway stations, offices, and classrooms.
However, remembrance is not always somber. On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the government moved the regular work holiday to commemorate the occasion. Communities held large parades of service members in full dress uniform, concerts, and flybys, including by the Royal Air Force’s renowned Red Arrow flight team.
The Red Arrows at the Victoria Memorial, courtesy of LTG researcher.
This year marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day, and communities again held picnics and street parties to celebrate and remember.
Selborne’s VE Day celebration, courtesy of LTG researcher.
At many of these commemorations, youth organizations such as the Scouts, Guides, and Army Cadet Corps provide honor guards and march in parades. This allows the next generation to appreciate the sacrifice of their forefathers and foremothers.
Nearly every community in Britain has some form of memorial to its service members or the fallen. Many towns and villages in Britain have war memorials with the names of those lost in war. Some communities also built village halls to honor the local heroes and those who served.4 They are used for events and gatherings by the communities.
One memorial is the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas near Lichfield, Staffordshire. It is a “living memorial” to those who served and was inspired by Arlington Cemetery and the National Arboretum in Washington. It has memorials to the nearly 60,000 British and 50,000 Commonwealth personnel who served in the Korean War. There is also an avenue of willows, each one dedicated to personnel who died in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Among the many other memorials are the Basra Memorial Wall and the Gulf War Memorial.6
Besides local memorials, families can visit memorials to the Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) in Bristol; the Crimean War (1853–1856) in London, and Brompton, Kent; the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in York, Newcastle, Worcester, and Brompton, Kent; and the Napoleonic War (1803–1815) in Medway, Kent, and Trafalgar Square in London.7
Commonwealth Countries and Nations: Shared History Across the World
Britain was an Empire at the start of the First World War, which meant that it controlled countries or regions throughout the world. Many of these countries are called the Commonwealth nations. Britain’s connections with the Commonwealth nations meant that many other people served alongside her military including Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Indians, and South Africans. Many of the war memorials in Britain reflect this shared history. The Brookwood Memorial southwest of London commemorates nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who have no known grave. An avenue of hundreds of maple trees in Bramshott Common honors the Canadian servicemen who died in the wars.8
British Digital Memorials and Online Tributes
Digital memorials are available, too, where people can contribute photographs and memories about those who served. The Imperial War Museum hosts a website, “Lives of the First World War,” with millions of personal stories. The National Army Museum hosts “Three Lights: First World War VR Experience” which allows people to experience a trench in immersive, virtual reality. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission hosts guided tours of both world wars on their “For Evermore” app and they have compiled a website, Voices of Veterans, which commemorates over half a million African soldiers, porters, drivers, and laborers who served in Africa and Burma (now Myanmar).
Honoring British Military in Your Family history
Much has been written, including by Legacy Tree, on how to discover more about family history involving the First and Second World Wars.9 The major anniversaries of the two wars prompted increased interest in war medals and artifacts such as trench art, photographs, and letters. Many returning soldiers had no interest in sharing the horrors they endured, so genealogists and family historians must work hard to recreate a semblance of that history through the records which have survived, together with battalion, or ship, war diaries. Britain has been fighting wars or defending itself for centuries and holds records for many of those who served, even if the service records are limited.
The memorials created by families join with those created by communities and Britain and the Commonwealth nations to remember those who served, and those who died. 10In the words of the poet Laurence Binyon:11
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
Your ancestors’ stories are waiting to be found. Discover your roots with a professional research project. Contact us to begin.
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Footnotes and Sources:
1 “Genealogy For Your UK Ancestors in World War I,” Legacy Tree Genealogists (https://www.legacytree.com/blog/uk-ancestors-world-war-i/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“World War II Genealogy Research in the UK,” Legacy Tree Genealogists (https://www.legacytree.com/blog/world-war-ii-genealogy-research-in-the-uk/: accessed 17 September 2025).
2 Royal British Legion, “The new plastic-free poppy,” photograph, 2023; “Poppies through the ages,” Royal British Legion (https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/the-poppy/evolution-of-the-poppy/: accessed 17 September 2025).
3 “Tower of London ceramic poppies,” Royal British Legion (https://branches.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/holland/photo-gallery/tower-of-london-ceramic-poppies/: accessed 17 September 2025).
4 “Memorial hall,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_hall/: accessed 17 September 2025).
6 “Arboretum Marks 70 Years Since the End of the Korean War,” National Memorial Arboretum (https://www.thenma.org.uk/about-us/news/korean-war-70th-anniversary/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“Iraq/Afghanistan Willows,” National Memorial Arboretum (https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/68579/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“Basra Memorial Wall Operation Telic Iraq,” Imperial War Museum (https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/59914/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“Gulf War,” Imperial War Museum (https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/72174/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“List of Memorials,” National Memorial Arboretum (https://www.thenma.org.uk/visit-us/what’s-here/the-memorials/list-of-memorials/: accessed 17 September 2025).
7 “Grade II* listed war memorials in England,” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_II*_listed_war_memorials_in_England/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
“Memorial to French prisoners of war, Church of St George, Central Avenue, Gillingham, Medway,” Historic England (https://historicengland.org.uk/education/schools-resources/educational-images/memorial-to-french-prisoners-of-war-church-of-st-george-central-avenue-gillingham-5063/: accessed 17 September 2025).
8 “Brookwood 1939–1945 Memorial,” Commonwealth War Graves Commission (https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/2012400/brookwood-1939-1945-memorial/: accessed 17 September 2025).
9 “Genealogy For Your UK Ancestors in World War I,” Legacy Tree Genealogists (https://www.legacytree.com/blog/uk-ancestors-world-war-i/: accessed 17 September 2025); and,
10“World War II Genealogy Research in the UK,” Legacy Tree Genealogists (https://www.legacytree.com/blog/world-war-ii-genealogy-research-in-the-uk/: accessed 17 September 2025).
11 “For the Fallen,” Poetry Foundation (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57322/for-the-fallen/: accessed 17 September 2025).
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