The Kilkenny Great War Memorial committee will host a commemoration to honour Armistice day this Sunday. The following is a statement received by The Observer from their committee
Another year has passed and November is here again. Looking at the memorial in the Peace Park to the over 800 men and women from Kilkenny who died in the Great War 1914-18 it is time to organise and prepare another event for Armistice Day commemorations in Kilkenny.
We have been planning the order of Ceremony and we have put together a very poignant running order for the event. In the ceremony we will have poetry, prayers, music, wreath laying, last Post and Reveille and the raising of the National Flag followed by the National Anthem
On Nov. 10, the Germans received word that Kaiser Wilhelm II had abdicated and instructions from the new government that they should sign the armistice. At 5 a.m. on Nov. 11, the armistice was agreed upon. Marshal Foch sent word to Allied commanders that “Hostilities will be stopped on the entire front beginning at 11 o’clock, November 11th (French hour). The Allied troops will not go beyond the line reached at that hour on that date until further orders.” The war on the Western Front had finally come to an end. Though one of several armistices signed in 1918, it is the armistice of Nov. 11 that left a lasting global legacy.
On Nov. 11, 1918, after more than four years of horrific fighting and the loss of millions of lives, the guns on the Western Front fell silent. Although fighting continued elsewhere, the armistice between Germany and the Allies was the first step to ending World War I. The global reaction was one of mixed emotions: relief, celebration, disbelief and a profound sense of loss.
You are cordially invited to join us for the ceremony at 4pm at the memorial in the Peace Park on Sunday next November 10th. This is an outdoor event.
