11am 11.11.1918

[CURREY_NZ]

History of Armistice Day
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

1919: Introduction of the Silent Tribute
On the first anniversary of the Armistice, 11 November 1919, two minutes silence was instituted as part of the main commemorative ceremony in Whitehall, London.
King George V had personally requested all the people of the British Empire to suspend normal activities for two minutes on the hour of the Armistice. Two minutes' silence was popularly adopted and it became a central feature of commemorations on Armistice Day.

1920: Tomb of the Unknown Warrior
On the second anniversary of the Armistice, 11 November 1920, the commemoration was given added significance with the return of the remains of an unknown soldier from the battlefields of the Western Front.
Unknown soldiers were interred with full military honours in Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey attracted over one million people within a week to pay their respects.

1946: Introduction of Remembrance Day
After the Second World War, the British and her Dominions, including New Zealand, agreed to change the name and date of Armistice Day to Remembrance Day, now to be observed on the Sunday prior to 11 November (it was later transferred to the second Sunday in November). Armistice Day was no longer viewed as an appropriate title for a day which would commemorate the war dead of both World Wars. In short, Remembrance Day "Sundayized" the observance of Armistice Day. For the first observance of Remembrance Day in 1946, New Zealanders were requested to attend traditional remembrance services and to observe two minutes' silence at 11 a.m., when citizens and vehicles were to halt in the streets. On the whole, Remembrance Day was observed in this manner during the late 1940s.

Armistice Day Today in New Zealand
Wreath-laying ceremonies mark Armistice Day at the National War Memorial in Wellington and at many local War Memorials throughout New Zealand. As part of these ceremonies, two minutes silence is observed at 11 a.m. on 11 November in memory of those New Zealanders who died while serving their country.
On Armistice Day 2004 the Unknown Warrior was interred at the National War Memorial following a Memorial Service at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul and a Military Funeral Procession watched by an estimated 100,000 people.

Source: RNZRSA Historian Dr Stephen Clarke