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The arrangements for the observance of Remembrance Sunday, 9 November, have now been completed and have been approved by Her Majesty The Queen.
Detachments from the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Army, the Territorial Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, HM Coastguard and the Merchant Air Service will march from Birdcage Walk via Great George Street and Parliament Street to the Cenotaph, where they will arrive by 10.35am and form a hollow square.
At 10.20am columns of ex-Servicemen and women, organised by the Royal British Legion, will assemble on Horse Guards Parade, where they will be joined by a contingent from London Transport, and at 10.25am will march via Horse Guards Arch and Whitehall to the Cenotaph, where they will form the north side of the square.
The west side will be formed by detachments of the Royal Navy, the Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, HM Coastguard and the Merchant Air Service.
The east side will be formed by detachments of the Household Cavalry, the Royal Artillery, the Guards Division, the Royal Logistic Corps, the Adjutant General's Corps, the Territorial Army and a representative contingent of members of the Civilian Services of the United Kingdom (the Police, Fire, Ambulance and Prison Services, WRVS, St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross Society).
The south side will be formed by the Massed Bands of the Guards Division and the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards together with the Bands of the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force, Buglers of the Royal Marines and Trumpeters of the Royal Air Force.
A selection of music will be played by the Massed Bands of the Guards Division and the Pipes and Drums of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards from 10.36am until shortly before 11.00am.
The choir of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal will be present at the Service which will be conducted by the Bishop of London. The Bishop will be accompanied by his Chaplain, the Sub-Dean of the Chapels Royal and a representative of the Chaplaincy Services.
On the first stroke of 11.00am by Big Ben the Two Minutes' Silence will be observed. Its commencement and conclusion will be marked by the firing of a gun from Horse Guards Parade by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery. At the end of the Silence the `Last Post' will be sounded by Buglers of the Royal Marines.
Her Majesty The Queen will then lay Her wreath on the Cenotaph. The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Duke of Kent and the representative of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother will each lay a wreath. The laying of wreaths will continue in the following order: the Prime Minister, Mr Hague, Mr Ashdown, Mr Trimble and Mrs Ewing on behalf of the Government and parliamentary parties, the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary on behalf of the Dependent Territories, the High Commissioners representing the Commonwealth, the Chiefs of Staff of the three services and the representatives of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, the Merchant Air Service and the Civilian Services.
When all the wreaths have been laid there will be a short service. After the service `Rouse' will be sounded by Trumpeters of the Royal Air Force. The singing of the National Anthem will complete the ceremony.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and members of the Royal Family will witness the ceremony from the windows of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building in Whitehall.
Before the troops leave Whitehall, the columns of ex-Servicemen and women present on parade will march past the Cenotaph. Representatives of the War Widows' Association will march with the ex-Service contingent. Arrangements have been made for those who so desire to pass through Westminster Abbey by the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. It is specially requested that all wreaths and flowers be placed at the Cenotaph and not at the Unknown Warrior's Grave.
A salute will take place at Horse Guards Parade during the march past of the ex-Service organisations following the ceremony.
Arrangements have been made for the ceremony to be broadcast on BBC and independent radio. There will also be television coverage by the BBC and Sky.
SERVICE AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
There will be a special service at Westminster Abbey on Remembrance Sunday commencing at 10.30am and concluding at 11.30am during which wreaths will be laid on the Defender's Memorial, at which the Admiralty Board, the Army Board and the Air Force Board will be represented. Representative detachments from the Fighting Services, the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets, the Merchant Air Service and the Civilian Services will also attend.
Such seats as will be available in the Abbey after setting apart places reserved for residents of the Commonwealth and Dependent Territories, representative detachments and the Royal British Legion will be open to the public without tickets. It is therefore particularly requested that no application for tickets should be addressed to the authorities of the Abbey.
