War & remembrance

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields...” - Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (1915)

Fellow fans of the English Premier League may have noticed the return of red poppy representations on their team's jerseys. Across Britain, poppy symbols are worn by many in the days leading up to November 11, which is annually observed as "Remembrance" or "Poppy Day." The date coincides with the Armistice that took effect at 11 am on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the moment when the guns fell silent on the Western Front. The cessation of hostilities effectively ended the First World War (1914-18), although it would be another two weeks before General Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck became the last German commander to capitulate; on November 25, 1918, at Mbale in modern Zambia.