November 2008

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Image of the Month Feature - November 2008

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PD/16/1 Armistice Day celebrations, George Street, Plymouth

This months image has been chosen by Stacey Dyer, Manager/Archivist

"On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the "war to end all wars" officially ended.

Armistice marked the end of fighting on the Western Front, where representatives of the Allies – the Russian Empire, France, the British Empire, Italy and the United States – sat down with German officers in a railway carriage in the forest of Compiegne near Paris to complete the formalities although The Allies' formal peace treaty with Germany, the Treaty of Versailles, was not officially signed until 28 June 1919.

Although London became the focus of celebrations with people camping out on the streets in order to get a good vantage point for the following days parade, all over the Western World street parties took shape. Plymouth was no exception as this photograph shows especially given the enormous devastation and cost to the city throughout the Blitz years. Sirens and ships' hooters were sounded and local school children paraded up and down the streets in jubilation.

Two minutes' silence are still observed on Armistice Day".


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