MEMORY IN SILENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1922, Page 5

MEMORY IN SILENCE.

ARMISTICE ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY IN LONDON. IMPRESSIVE SCENES. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. Received Nov. 12, 5.5 p.m. London, Nov. 11. Grey skies greeted the armistice anniversary. Whitehall and all approaches were densely crowded hours before the ceremony. Guardsmen, airmen, bluejackets, marines and ex-sevice men formed a square round the cenotaph. The King, wearing the service uniform, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, arrived shortly before eleven. The King, in the presence of representatives of the naval and military commands Aid civilian services, deposited a magnificent wreath of scarlet poppies and laurel on the north side, while the Princes placed similar tributes on either side of that of the King. Lord Curzon, on behalf of the Ministry, laid the first wreath on the west s’de, composed of white lilies, and the High Commissioners followed. Sir Joseph Cook’s wreath was of laurel and palms, with a cluster of crimson roses attached. Sir James Alien’s wreath was of laurel, with pink roses attached. The Duke of Devonshire offered a tribute on behalf of the Colonial Office.

As Big Ben struck eleven all heads were bared. The city’s very pulse seemed to cease, and the silence throughout the whole metropolis was most impressive. Then bands blared out the “Old Hundredth,” in which the crowds joined heartily. The ceremony ended with the Reveille.

• The tributes included a big sheaf of golden chrysanthemums, the gift of Anzacs. Lady Allen placed a wreath on behalf of the Central School, Palmerston North. The pilgrimage continued all day long, and the base of the cenotaph was hidden by thousands of beautiful floral designs. An unbroken stream of pilgrims visited the grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster .Abbey. Throughout the metropolis women Sold millions of artificial Flanders poppies in aid of destitute and disabled soldiers. Later several processions of unemployed ex-service men paraded the Embankment and Whitehall, headed by bands and accompanied by banners. One was inscribed: “1914, Mons, starred; 1922, starving.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. OBSERVANCE/IN AUSTRALIA. DAY OF GREAT SOLEMNITY. Recieved Nov. 12, 5.5 p.m. Sydney, Nov. 12. Throughout the Commonwealth the armistice anniversary was observed with great solemnity. All business ceased, all hats were doffed, and great quiet prevailed in the cities and towns while the two minutes’ silence was observed. Large crowds gathered in the central squares to pay homage to the memory of the dead. The day was marked by various official and other functions, the chief in Sydney being the opening of a Methodist War Memorial Hospital, the gift of the Vickery family, for which the Methodist community is raising £30,000 fo? fittings and upkeep.