Two-minute silence

In the United Kingdom and other countries within the Commonwealth, a two-minute silence is observed as part of Remembrance Day to remember those who died in conflict.

[1] This was instituted by the Cape Town Mayor, Sir Harry Hands, at the suggestion of councillor Robert Rutherford Brydone,[2][3][4][Note 1] on 14 May 1918, after receiving the news of the death of his son Reginald Hands by gassing on 20 April, adopting into public observance a gesture that had been practised sporadically in city churches since 1916.

[6] Brydone and Hands organised an area where the traffic would be brought to a standstill and the first silence was observed at Cartwright's Corner in Adderley Street.

As the city fell silent, a bugler on the balcony of the Fletcher and Cartwright's Building on the corner of Adderley and Darling Streets sounded the "Last Post", and the "Reveille" was played at the end of the pause.

[9] Writing to Lord Milner, then Colonial Secretary, he described the silence that fell on the city during this daily ritual, and proposed that this become an official part of the annual service on Armistice Day.

From the Indian jungles to Alaska, on the trains, on the ships at sea, in every part of the globe where a few British were gathered together, the Two-Minute pause was observed.

Only then did I know that my proposal had reached the King and had been accepted and that the Cabinet knew the source.FitzPatrick was thanked for his contribution by Lord Stamfordham:[4] Dear Sir Percy,The King, who learns that you are shortly to leave for South Africa, desires me to assure you that he ever gratefully remembers that the idea of the Two Minute Pause on Armistice Day was due to your initiation, a suggestion readily adopted and carried out with heartfelt sympathy throughout the Empire.The Australian government recognises Edward George Honey as originator of the idea,[15] but he only aired the suggestion (in a letter to a London newspaper) nearly a year after the custom had been initiated in Cape Town, and no convincing trail of evidence has been shown to suggest that his letter had any impact on either Fitzpatrick's or the King's motivation.

"[17] This order of proceedings is not followed in the UK National Service of Remembrance in London, but is often used in regional ceremonies and in other Commonwealth countries.