Army Cadets were selling poppies in Abingdon this morning.

In 1919, King George V sent a message asking people to observe 2 minutes silence at 11am on 11th November to commemorate the 1st anniversary of armistice day.

The war must have affected everybody, and people were grateful to follow the King’s request.

In Abingdon, at the Pavlova leather works the siren sounded at 11am that Tuesday morning and the work force stopped working to remember in silence those who had not come back. All schools students were reminded of the occasion, and people in the streets, shops, and houses also observed the call for remembrance. The silence was most marked and moving in busy places. Wreathes were placed by the temporary cross at the Square in Abingdon. (Details from ‘Notes of the Week’ in that week’s Herald from 1919)

The use of poppies as a remembrance symbol started in 1920 in the USA, and came to the UK the following year.