Event    From 4/8/1914  To 11/11/1918

World War 1

Categories: Armed Forces, Tragedy

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920 as the title of a book, 'The First World War' by Charles à Court Repington. He was using it to emphasize the global nature of the war rather than its sequential nature.

Different memorials give different years for the end of WW1. The Armistice came into force at 11am on 11 November 1918 and fighting ceased on the western front but hostilities continued elsewhere. The Treaty of Versailles, signed by Germany and some of the allied powers following the Paris Peace Conference, was not until 28 June 1919.

The war did not officially end in the UK until 31 August 1921, as explained at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission: "When the Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act 1918 was passed by Parliament, it gave discretion to His Majesty in Council to declare the date of the termination of the war. Consequently, war with each of the Central Powers ended close to the date of the ratification of the various peace treaties. Although a treaty with Turkey had yet to be ratified, it was decided that 31 August 1921 ‘should be treated as the date of the termination of the present War’. As the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC) was charged with responsibility for the graves of service personnel who died between the outbreak and end of the War, this meant that those casualties of the First World War who died after 31 August 1921 fell outside the remit of the Commission."

Note - it seems to be just a lucky poetic chance that the Armistice coincides with "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month". Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated on November 9th, presumably not thinking "just in time for a poetically-timed Armistice".

For some signs of WW1 on buildings in London see Spitalfields Life.

2024: We've just come across the London World War 1 Memorial - looks like it could be a great resource.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
World War 1

Commemorated ati

24th London Division - memorial

These 3 figures are said to be modelled on the soldier poets: Robert Graves, ...

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8th London Howitzers

The way this monument meets the sloping ground has been well thought out: a s...

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Abney Park - CWGC war memorial

The screen wall at the back, south, of the memorial carries a number of bronz...

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African and Caribbean Armed Forces

Unveiled on Windrush Day. A very simple design, we think the horizontal obeli...

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Air raid

Very small plaque on the doorframe.

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Other Subjects

Captain Geoffrei Hugh Austen-Cartmell

Captain Geoffrei Hugh Austen-Cartmell

Geoffrei Hugh Austen-Cartmell was born on 30 October 1895, the second of the three children of James Austen Cartmell (1862-1921) and Mary Affleck Cartmell née Peacock (1860-1906). Civil Registratio...

Person, Armed Forces, Law, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
A. A. Pettegree

A. A. Pettegree

Member of the staff of A. W. Gamage Ltd and/or Benetfink & Co. Ltd. Killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
A. T. Butler

A. T. Butler

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
1st County of London (Middlesex Husrs.)

1st County of London (Middlesex Husrs.)

London unit which served in WW1.

Group, Armed Forces

1 memorial
George Alfred Brown

George Alfred Brown

Group Captain George Alfred Brown, DFC, was born 6 July 1912 in India and our Picture source gives details of his career in the Royal Air Force. This confirms that he was one of the 2,937 airmen wh...

Person, Armed Forces, India

War served, WW2
1 memorial

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Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

The borough was formed in 1965 by the merging of the separate former boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea. It was originally planned to call it just Kensington, but Chelsea was added after local prot...

Group, Politics & Administration

31 memorials
London Charterhouse

London Charterhouse

Carthusian priory, founded by Sir Walter Manny and Bishop Michael Northburg of London. Inhabited by 25 monks. The priory was suppressed in 1538 (re: Dissolution of the Monesteries) and the land pas...

Building, Religion

2 memorials
Royal Wimbledon Golf Club

Royal Wimbledon Golf Club

Former members include Field Marshal Earl Haig, and future kings Edward VIII and George VI.

Group, Community / Clubs, Sport / Games

1 memorial
Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan Police

Founded in 1829 by Robert Peel under the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 and on 26 September of that year, over 1,000 men were sworn in in the grounds of the Foundling Hospital. (From Sarah Wise's boo...

Group, Emergency Services

13 memorials
Crimean War

Crimean War

War between Russia and an alliance of France, Germany, Britain, Turkey and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Major battles include those at Alma, Inkerman and Sebastopol, where they still occasionally find ...

Event, Armed Forces, Crimea, Russia, Turkey

6 memorials