Remembrance and the First World War

Original Cenotaph in the Imperial War Museum, with three floral wreaths, foliage and a large flag on either side.

The original Cenotaph, photographed in the Imperial War Museum on the annual day of remembrance.

The human cost of the First World War has become one of its defining legacies. It was a global conflict that changed the lives of millions of people.

Modern ways of remembering war began after the conflict, as people tried to cope with the huge loss of life it caused.

While scenes of rejoicing followed the Armistice in November 1918, the scale of the casualties and sacrifice endured by Britons during the First World War meant that more solemn commemorations were required to meet the national sense of loss and grief.

Traditions, such as the first two-minute silence took place on Armistice day 1919, at the request of King George V.

Surviving veterans and their dependents were also remembered, and in 1921, several organisations combined into the Royal British Legion to coordinate charitable efforts, with artificial poppies sold to raise funds.

Remembering the fallen

The remains of many who died in the war lay overseas. People at home found ways commemorate those who lost their lives during the First World War.

IWM (Q 31513)

The Cenotaph

Sir Edward Lutyens designed a temporary 'cenotaph' for Peace Day, 1919, and the popularity of the simple, but striking monument was so great, that a permanent Cenotaph was commissioned to replace the wooden one in 1920.
IWM (Q 31514)

The Unknown Warrior

A symbolic site was created with the interment of an anonymous dead serviceman in Westminster Abbey in 1920.
More than a million people filed past the flag-covered grave of the Unknown Warrior, the week before it was sealed.
Around the country communities recorded the names of their dead on war memorials.
© IWM (EPH 2313)

Poppies

The poppy is the enduring symbol of remembrance of the First World War. It is strongly linked with Armistice Day but the poppy's origin as a popular symbol of remembrance lies in the landscapes of the First World War.

Read: Why we wear Poppies on Remembrance Day.
IWM (O 205)

War graves

The Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission undertook the task of establishing and maintaining permanent cemeteries across the world, becoming focal points for pilgrimages by presidents and ordinary people alike over the decades.
Elsewhere, the names of many missing were inscribed on monuments.
Next of Kin Memorial Plaques

Next of Kin Memorial Plaques were issued to the next of kin of the person who died serving with the British and Empire forces during the First World War.
The engraved bronze plaques, accompanying scrolls and King's messages were produced to commemorate those who gave up their lives and to acknowledge their sacrifice.

Remembrance

Battlefield Pilgrimages

In the years after the First World War, tours of the battlefields became popular and a way to pay respects to those who had died.

How did people remember the fallen?

IWM curator Laura Clouting discusses the different ways people commemorated the dead– from the intensely personal, private rituals to the sombre national ceremonies.

She explains why the Kenyon Report, which outlined the need for a ‘common plan’ for the commemoration of the war dead in cemeteries far from Britain, was so revolutionary and looks at how local communities remembered their dead. The Loughborough Carillon Tower was just one of thousands of memorials unveiled during the 1920s.

Laura also explores the ways in which individuals, families and friends remembered those they had lost - from veterans holding reunion dinners to families keeping the belongings of the fallen safe for years.

One poignant example of this are the personal possessions of Private Albert Tattersall, who was just 23 when he died after being injured on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Laura also examines how remembrance is represented in popular culture and how forms of state remembrance have evolved, including how the concept for the Cenotaph changed from initial design to final construction in 1920.

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Transcript

Laura Clouting: “For Britain, the casualties inflicted during the First World War had never been surpassed. Come the end of the war, there was a real tension about whether or not to look back and to find ways to commemorate that human cost, or whether or not to celebrate victory and to move on with life.

Families, communities and the nation sought ways to remember the dead. During the war, a sweeping decision was made. The bodies of the British and Empire War dead would not be brought home for burial. They were to stay on the former battlefields. With victory still uncertain, in January 1918, a revolutionary report was authored. This report, laid out in immense amount of detail, a vision for how these permanent cemeteries would look. We are very familiar with this site today and the results of this report in the rows of white headstones, which look identical to one another.

Regardless of race, rank or religion, everybody was to be commemorated in the same way, and this became really a democracy of death. But with those cemeteries so far from home, and with so many of those who had died having no known grave, alternative forms of remembrance were needed. Communities from villages, towns and cities to sports clubs, schools and churches debated how best to remember their war dead. In the 1920s, around 40,000 war memorials were constructed across the country. They came in all sorts of different shapes and sizes. The one in Loughborough consisted of a dramatic tower with 47 bells. From scholarship funds to hospitals, other people prefer to pay tribute to the war dead by helping the living. Without a body to bury at home, many families looked for other ways to remember their loved ones who had been killed during the war.

A dead soldier's personal possessions sent back to his family could become precious keepsakes. Private Albert Tattersall died of wounds inflicted on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. His personal possessions, which he had carried with him at the frontline, were sent back to his family. They included his pipe, cigarettes, a small Bible and a shaving mirror and his ID tags. They kept them safe, eventually donating them to the museum. Those who had survived the war on the fighting fronts did not forget what they had experienced. They formed veteran's associations and at organised reunions, the camaraderie forged during wartime continued. They were often lively and raucous affairs at odds with the increasingly sombre public commemorations.

The Cenotaph in London has become the focus of national remembrance. It was originally designed as a temporary wooden structure to celebrate peace in 1919. This sketch was drawn by its architect, Sir Edwin Luchins over dinner one evening. The Cenotaph proved so popular with the public that it was decided to rebuild it the following year made of stone. It was unveiled on Armistice Day 1920. Ever since the war ended 100 years ago, it has been remembered. The popular warning, lest we forget, holds firm for now. But for how long, and in what ways will we continue to remember this increasingly distant war?”

Remembrance

I always think on 11 November when I'm standing still for that two minute silence my mind goes back to the last few pals that I knew that were killed on that fateful hour on the Sambre Canal.

Walter Grover, Sussex Regiment

Hear stories about the legacy of the First World War

A British soldier stands besides the grave of a comrade near Pilckem during the Third Battle of Ypres, 22nd August 1917.

Remembrance

The Hall of Remembrance

A remarkable group of paintings was commissioned by the British government towards the end of the First World War as a memorial to the dead. They were intended to be displayed a bespoke memorial gallery, known as the Hall of Remembrance.

View the paintings

A trench with duckboard paths leading to a dug-out. Two infantrymen stand to the left, one on the firestep looking over the parapet into No Man's Land.

IWM (Art.IWM ART 2243)

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©IWM, IWM London, First World War Galleries

First World War Galleries

Explore over 1,300 objects from IWM's collections that tell the story of how the Great War was fought, won and remembered at the First World War Galleries at IWM London.
Discover objects on display that tell the story of the Armistice and how the First World is remembered, including original Cenotaph drawings and diary records of a 1928 pilgrimage by ex-servicemen and women to the Western Front battlefields and cemeteries.
Art.IWM ART 1460 © Factum Foundation for Imperial War Museums

Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries

The work of artists, photographers and filmmakers on display at the Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries at IWM London provide a vivid insight into conflict.
Artworks in display include John Singer Sargent’s iconic six-metre-long painting Gassed, 1919, the largest painting in IWM's collection that depicts the experience and loss of fighting during the First World War fighting.
© IWM (Q 48871)

War Memorials Register

War memorials are a vital part of the UK's cultural heritage.
IWM's War Memorials Register documents war memorials across the UK and records how memorials commemorate members of the armed forces, civilians and animals from all conflicts.
Explore IWM's database, find out more about our records and upload UK war memorials photographs.

Remembering the fallen

The Cenotaph

The Unknown Warrior

Poppies

War graves

Next of Kin Memorial Plaques

Battlefield Pilgrimages

How did people remember the fallen?

The Hall of Remembrance

Explore further

First World War Galleries

Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries

War Memorials Register