A season of Remembrance
91Èȱ¬ One - more programmes
The Festival of Remembrance (Saturday 8 November)
Ìý
91Èȱ¬ One hosts coverage of the Royal British Legion's annual Festival of Remembrance in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen and members of the Royal Family.
Ìý
The Massed Bands of the Household Division, the Band of HM Royal Marines, the Band of the Parachute Regiment, the RAF Squadronaires and the Queen's Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force will be joined on the night by Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson, Hayley Westernra and Jonathan Ansell. The lesson is read by the Earl of Wessex.
Ìý
The event grew out of a national desire to find an appropriate way to remember the fallen of the Great War.
Ìý
In 1927 the British Legion organised the first Festival of Remembrance which was broadcast across the world by the 91Èȱ¬ with songs, military bands and two minutes of silence.
Ìý
Every year the Festival culminates in the poignant Service of Remembrance as thousands of poppy petals fall from the roof of the hall, each representing a life lost in war.
Ìý
This is a moment to remember all victims of war and conflict, paying tribute to the armed forces and the service men and women around the world putting their lives at risk today.
Ìý
The Ceremony of Remembrance (Sunday 9 November)
Ìý
91Èȱ¬ One broadcasts live coverage of the annual Ceremony of Remembrance, the traditional cornerstone of the nation’s national act of remembrance for all those who have lost their lives in war since the start of the twentieth century.
Ìý
The programme is hosted by David Dimbleby, and the service will be lead by the Bishop of London with Her Majesty The Queen, senior members of the Royal Family, Prime Minister and politicians in attendance, paying their respects and laying wreaths at the Cenotaph.
Ìý
Coverage of the event will be augmented by short films from those affected by war, from the Great War to the current conflicts in Iran and Afghanistan, telling their own personal stories of how war has affected them.
Ìý
The ceremony will conclude with the march past, when almost 10,000 veterans will pay their respects to their fallen comrades, family and friends.
Ìý
Songs of Praise (Sunday 9 November)
Ìý
Ninety years on, most of those who served are gone, yet the words of the Great War's soldier poets remain as a lasting legacy to keep the memory alive.
Ìý
The ancient garrison town of Shrewsbury was home to perhaps the most famous War Poet of all – Wilfred Owen. On Remembrance Sunday, Aled Jones presents Hymns of Remembrance from Shrewsbury's Civic and Regimental Church of St Chad's.
Ìý
Through War Poetry old and new, Poet Laureate Andrew Motion and actor Robert Hardy join Aled in paying tribute to those who have suffered and died in conflicts past and present.
Ìý
The Last Voices Of A Generation
Ìý
Of more than five million British men and women who served in the Great War, only three are still alive: Henry Allingham, Harry Patch and Bill Stone.
Ìý
Broadcast live from the Cenotaph, the last three voices of a generation will gather to remember friends and relatives who died in the most bitter and devastating fighting the world had ever seen.
Ìý
Henry Allingham, now aged 112, saw action at the great naval Battle of Jutland and was a founding member of the RAF; 110 year old Harry Patch saw his comrades die in the mud and trenches during the Battle of Passchendaele; and Bill Stone, 108, has memories of fighting in both the First and Second World Wars.
Ìý
The programme will be hosted by Huw Edwards with music from the Tri Service Band made up of musicians from the Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Marines performing with the London Welsh Male Voice Choir.
Ìý
There will also be specially recorded readings from the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres.
Ìý
At 11am, the three veterans will lead the country in two minutes silence for all those who have died in wars, past and present.
Ìý
Printable version