Empire Medals News

17 servicemen and women remembered at National Memorial Arboretum 0

The names of 17 servicemen and women who were killed on duty or through terrorism last year will be unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

The names of those who died were engraved onto the walls in May and will be read out in a special service for families later.

Lights Out At The Abbey 0

A candle-lit vigil at Westminster Abbey and a "lights out" event have concluded a day of ceremonies marking 100 years since Britain entered World War One.

People were invited to turn off their lights for an hour until 23:00 BST, the time war was declared in 1914.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and David Cameron attended a twilight ceremony at St Symphorien Military Cemetery near Mons, Belgium.

The Prince of Wales was at a service in Glasgow, among other commemorations.

The Lights Out event - organised by 14-18 NOW, a cultural programme to mark the centenary - saw households, businesses and public buildings across the UK turn out their lights to leave a single candle or light burning.

The event was inspired by the words of wartime Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, who said on the eve of WW1: "The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime."

The conflict between 1914 and 1918 - which became known as the Great War - left 17 million soldiers and civilians dead.