The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, is at the center of the annual Remembrance Service to commemorate British and Commonwealth service men and women who died in the two World Wars and later conflicts. The monarch, politicians, religious leaders, representatives of state and the armed and auxiliary forces gather on the Sunday nearest to 11th November at 11am and pay respect to those who gave their lives defending others.

Cenotaph is Greek for Empty Tomb, and the original structure of wood and plaster was erected for the first anniversary of the Armistice in 1919. After the monument’s unveiling, its base was spontaneously covered in wreaths to the dead and missing from the Great War. Due to this public reaction, a permanent memorial of Portland stone and inscribed “The Glorious Dead” was erected and unveiled in 1920.

Since 1921, the annual Remembrance Service at the Cenotaph has followed the same tradition of hymns, prayers, and the observance of a two minute silence. Official wreaths are laid on the steps of the Cenotaph, and the ceremony ends with a march past of war veterans, each paying respect to fallen comrades.

(My thanks to the BBC archives for information.)