The annual Armistice Day ceremony in Bahrain to pay respect to the brave people who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their countries will be broadcast live on GDN’s Facebook account this afternoon at 1.50pm.
This year’s event will only be attended by a small number of invitees as a result of Covid-19 protocols and will take place at the Old Christian Cemetery in Manama.
A short service will be conducted by the Dean of St Christopher’s Cathedral and Archdeacon of the Gulf, The Venerable Dr Bill Schwartz. Wreath-laying will follow before two minutes of silence is ended by the poignant Last Post played by a bugler.
In recent years the service has been held in the grounds of the British Embassy attracting numerous diplomats, service personnel, dignitaries, community club representatives and the media.
“The pandemic has made it impossible to mark Armistice Day in the normal manner but we felt it important to reach out to the community with the help of the GDN,” said a member of the organising committee.
Armistice Day coincides with Remembrance Day and Veterans Day. It is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of the First World War and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o’clock in the morning – the ‘eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month’ of 1918.
People observe two consecutive minutes of silence at 11am in the UK (2pm Bahrain time) as a sign of respect. The first minute is for the roughly 20 million people who died in the war and the second is dedicated to the living left behind - wives, children and families.
Today, remembrance poppies are used to commemorate servicemen and women who have been killed in all conflicts since 1914. Poppy wreaths are also laid at war memorials to mark the day.
Traditionally, three visiting Chelsea Pensioners, ambassadors for the UK’s Royal Hospital, attend the service too during an annual visit to Bahrain, but this year’s trip has had to be cancelled because of the global health crisis.
More than 218,000 people follow the GDN’s Facebook page. Watch the live broadcast by visiting: https://www.facebook.com/GDNOnline/
