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10 unusual facts about Armistice Day


Armistice Day

In recent years Armistice Day has become increasingly recognised, and many people now attend the 11am ceremony at the Cenotaph in London - an event organised by The Western Front Association, a UK charity dedicated to perpetuating the memory of those who served in the First World War.

Baron Alington

Gerard Philip Montagu Napier Sturt (1893–1918), died on Armistice Day 1918, from wounds received in action, unmarried.

Clearview, Washington

On Armistice Day 1931 a celebration was held in recognition of the new name of Clearview.

District of Columbia War Memorial

Construction of the memorial began in the spring of 1931, and the memorial was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover on November 11, 1931 (Armistice Day).

Fernand Bonnier de La Chapelle

Bonnier de La Chapelle participated in an anti-German student demonstration at the Arc de Triomphe on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940.

Frank Eaton

After seeing Eaton ride a horse in the 1923 Armistice Day parade in Stillwater, Oklahoma with Cowgirl "SPO" Phillips and Cowpoke "Real Deal" Rieger, a group of Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) students decided that Eaton's "Pistol Pete" would be a suitable mascot for the school.

Horace S. Carswell, Jr.

Horace attended North Side High School, where he played football, with his high school highlight being the winning touchdown he scored on Armistice Day in a game against the Wichita Falls team in 1933.

Lazare Ponticelli

Every Armistice Day until 2007 he attended ceremonies honoring deceased veterans.

Until his death, Ponticelli lived with his daughter in the Paris suburb of Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, and every 11 November until 2007 he attended Armistice Day ceremonies.

Prix Fille de l'Air

It was transferred to Toulouse in 1997, and since then it has been usually run on the French public holiday of Armistice Day.


A Man Could Stand Up —

The energy of the dance is compelling, and, a microcosm of Armistice Day, it draws volume 3 of Parade's End to a close.

Arthur Halestrap

In 2003, aged 105, he was the only British veteran of the First World War to attend the Armistice Day Ceremony in Ypres, where he rose from his wheelchair and, in a clear and strong voice, recited Laurence Binyon's poem "For the Fallen".

Law, Dundee

The memorial is lit with a large flame at its top on a number of significant days, viz: 25 September (in memory of the Battle of Loos - in which many members of the local Black Watch regiment lost their lives), 24 October (United Nations Day), 11 November (Armistice Day) and Remembrance Sunday

Suriya-Mal Movement

In protest against the proceeds of Poppy sales on Armistice Day (11 November) being used for the benefit of the British ex-servicemen to the detriment of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen, one of the latter, Mr Aelian Perera, had started a rival sale of Suriya flowers on the same day, the proceeds of which were devoted to help needy Ceylonese ex-servicemen.