A Weekend To Remember

Saturday, 11 November 2023 at 07:00

Events are taking place across Jersey this weekend for Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Services are being held at parish war memorials and at the Cenotaph in St Helier.

A two minute silence will be observed at 11am on both Saturday and on Sunday.

Armistice Day (11 November) commemorates the end of fighting in World War I. It symbolises the moment - after more than four years of fierce conflict and the loss of millions of lives - the guns fell silence on the Western front.

Remembrance Sunday honours the contribution of servicemen and women who fought and died in WWI and WWII, and in subsequent conflicts.

Wreaths will be laid at the Cenotaph on the Parade. Islanders are invited to attend the service, which starts at 10.30am.

In his annual remembrance message, Jersey's Lieutenant Governor Vice Admiral Jerry Kyd says we should take time to reflect on the realities and brutality of war and the sacrifices of those who gave their lives and those who live with the scars of conflict.

"Remembrance Day is the opportunity for us all to pay our solemn respects to all those people who have answered the call to arms in the past and who subsequently were tragically killed doing their duty.

Individuals who willingly place their lives on the line for the greater good, and even die for it, perhaps exemplify the highest form of devotion in a world where selfishness is becoming all too common."

Remembrance Day is for all those who have suffered due to the hell and trials of war. For all of them, please buy and wear a poppy.

This little, fragile blood-red flower which grew in abundance amid the battlefield of Flanders, and which now symbolises sacrifice and our remembrance of the dead every November."

Sunday’s annual Remembrance Day Big Ride Out has been cancelled due to forecast bad weather.