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'The two minutes' silence to commemorate the first anniversary
of the ceasefire of 11 o'clock on 11 November 1918 was almost
as much of a surprise to the general public as the ceasefire
itself had been. The decision to mark the first anniversary of
the Armistice with a silent pause in the life of the nation
was taken very close to the anniversary itself.'
The origins of the silence can be found in a
minute dated 4 November 1919, submitted to Lord Milner for the
consideration of the War Cabinet by Sir Percy Fitzpatrick,
former British High Commissioner to the Dominion of South
Africa, His son had been killed in France in 1917. He wrote:
'In the hearts of our
people there is a real desire to find some lasting
expression of their feeling for those who gave their lives
in the war. They want something done now while the
memories of sacrifice are in the minds of all; for there
is the dread - too well grounded in experience - that
those who have gone will not always be first in the
thoughts of all, and that when the fruits of their
sacrifice become our daily bread, there will be few
occasions to remind us of what we realise so clearly
today.
During the War, we in South Africa observed what we called
the "Three minutes' pause " At noon each day, all work,
all talk and all movement were suspended for three minutes
that we might concentrate as one in thinking of those -
the living and the dead - who had pledged and given
themselves for all that we believe in…
Silence, complete and arresting, closed upon the city -
the moving, aweinspiring silence of a great Cathedral
where the smallest sound must seem a sacrilege… Only those
who have felt it can understand the overmastering effect
in action and reaction of a multitude moved suddenly to
one thought and one purpose.'
The War Cabinet discussed Fitzpatrick's proposal on 5 November
and approved a 'Service of Silence' on Armistice Day. Lord
Milner was placed in charge of making the arrangements. The
only amendment the Cabinet made was to amend the duration to
one minute, - subject to approval from the King. (The
precedent for a minute's silence can be found in the silence
observed at Theodore Roosevelt's funeral that same year).
Milner drafted a 'personal request' for the King and took it
to Buckingham Palace. The King discussed it with his private
secretary Lord Stamfordham and altered the duration of the
silence to two minutes. Milner then arranged for the release
of the finalised draft to the Dominions and the press. It was
carried by all national newspapers on 7 November 1919:
'Tuesday next, November 11, is the first anniversary of
the Armistice, which stayed the world wide carnage of the
four preceding years and marked the victory of Right and
Freedom. I believe that my people in every part of the
Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of the
Great Deliverance, and of those who have laid down their
lives to achieve it. To afford an opportunity for the
universal expression of this feeling, it is my desire and
hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force,
the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh
month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a
complete suspension of our normal activities. No elaborate
organisation appears to be required. At a given signal,
which can easily be arranged to suit the circumstances of
the locality, I believe that we shall gladly interrupt our
business and pleasure, whatever it may be and unite in
this simple service of Silence and Remembrance'.
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