Remembrance Sunday is held on the second Sunday in November, the Sunday nearest to 11th November. It is a special day set aside to remember all those men and women who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today, during the two World Wars and all the other wars and conflicts throughout the world.

On this day people across the nation pause to reflect on the sacrifices made by our brave service men and women. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the signing of a peace agreement called the Armistice. At 11am on November 11th, 1918, the armistice was signed and brought to an end the war between Britain and her allies and Germany after more than four years. November 11th is called Armistice Day in Britain, and there is a two-minute silence at 11 o'clock.

On either the Sunday before or the Sunday after Armistice Day (on a day known as Remembrance Sunday) there is a national ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, at which people remember those who have died or been injured in wars. The ceremony was first held in 1921 and the Queen lays the first wreath at the Cenotaph.

Special services are held every year at war memorials and churches all over Britain. Over 1.75 million soldiers and sailors from Britain and the Commonwealth lost their lives in the two World Wars, and many more have died in more recent conflicts.

Act of Remembrance: Introduction 'They shall grow not old...' Last Post Silence Reveille Kohima Epitaph Prayer Wreath laying Prayer National Anthem Blessing

At St. James's there is a special service each Remembrance Sunday. Read the prayers written by the Jays Sunday School for Remembrance Sunday After the service we all process out of the church, led by the clergy, servers and choir, and gather round the war memorial in the churchyard. Wreaths are laid and some people also leave small wooden crosses in remembrance of a family member who died in war.

A poem called 'For the Fallen' is often read aloud during the ceremony; the most famous verse of which reads:
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."

At 11 o'clock the 'Last Post' is played on a trumpet, the two minutes silence is observed and special prayers are said. (In military life, 'The Last Post' marks the end of the day and the final farewell.)

One of the few things that survived in the battlefields of Northern France during World War One was the poppy. It's bright and cheerful resilience brought hope and comfort to the soldiers. After the war, paper poppies were sold to help wounded soldiers and their families and are still sold by the Royal British Legion, a charity dedicated to helping war veterans. It is now traditional to wear red poppies in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for us during all wars.