Once in a lifetime Remembrance Day 11-11-11-11 |11 November 2011

A wreath laying ceremony will then take place at the cenotaph at the Mont Fleuri cemetery.

The Sunday service follows the traditional Remembrance Day, November 11, when on this day in 1918 ‘at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month’ Germany signed the Armistice and World War One ended.

This day is now marked annually, in the UK and other Commonwealth countries, by a two- minute silence remembering service men and women and civilians who have sacrificed their lives in war. In this year, 2011, it will be particularly special as the commemoration will occur at 11-11-11 in 2011.

The poppy was adopted as a symbol of Remembrance Day in 1921 by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, founder of the Royal British Legion, as poppies flowered across the worst of Europe’s battlefields. Every year, the organisation holds a poppy appeal, selling paper poppies to raise money for ex-service men and women, and poppy wreaths are also laid at war memorials and graves.

Commenting ahead of Remembrance Day and also Sunday’s service, Mr Forbes said:

“The Royal British Legion continues to provide fantastic support to servicemen injured in the line of duty and their families as well as through their poppy appeal helping us all to remember the lives lost and irrevocably changed by war. Last year, the Legion raised £36 million and hopes to reach £40 million this year, a year when cardboard poppies will be planted in an 11-11-11-11 formation at Lydiard Park, Royal Wootton Bassett, to mark the special date.

“Closer to home, here in Seychelles, the Association of Seychellois Ex-Service Personnel raised an impressive 150,000 rupees from the Veterans Day Lottery to help old soldiers in need. I’d encourage members of the public to please show their support at the cenotaph on this special Remembrance Day.”

Members of the public are invited to attend the Remembrance Sunday Service at St Paul’s, Victoria at 8.30am and the cenotaph at Mont Fleuri at 10.15am on Sunday.

Poppies are being sold across the islands and are also available from the British High Commission and St Paul’s on the day.

Contributed