11 November 2018

11 November 2018

Television: BBC 1.  Remembrance Sunday: The Cenotaph, 2018 – World War One Remembered.  11 November 2018.  Presenter: David Dimbleby.  (10am-1.30pm)

 

On November 11 2018, I was in the heart of London at the Cenotaph on Whitehall as a part of the BBC’s television coverage of the Remembrance ceremony and march pasts. I had the privilege of not only talking about the 1918 Armistice, but also experiencing the centennial commemoration from up close.  My book Peace at Last was used for the research and preparation for the programme.

The colours of the day were striking: the event was blessed with fine weather (even though it was not warm by any means), so all the dark-clad people stood beneath blue skies, and in the sunlight the rows of medals were glinting. The red wreaths of poppies at the foot of the Cenotaph were a small field of colour.  In the trees on Whitehall, green parakeets were chattering away, and although these exotic parakeets are such a familiar and much-loved feature of London these days, their colourfulness and cheeriness did seem a little out of place.

Please see my blog on ‘Armistice Attire‘ for Yale University Press.

 

 

 

Also see:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/review-remembrance-sunday-the-cenotaph-on-bbc-one-q9d2cwvrh

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-46155357

https://www.hope.ac.uk/news/allnews/english-scholar-appears-on-bbcs-live-remembrance-day-coverage-.html