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.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

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, ...

Read More

8th London Howitzers

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

Read More

Abney Park - CWGC war memorial

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

Read More

African and Caribbean Armed Forces

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

Read More

Air raid

Very small plaque on the doorframe.

Read More

Load next 200 of 402

Other Subjects

A. S. G. Harding

A. S. G. Harding

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
Hy. T. Weyda

Hy. T. Weyda

Resident of the Central Ward, Hendon who served and died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Korean War

Korean War

This war, the first UN action against aggression, has not officially ended but a ceasefire has held since 1953.

Event, Armed Forces, Korea

3 memorials
Private Richard Cripps

Private Richard Cripps

Richard Cripps was born in Hull, Yorkshire, a younger son of John Cripps (b. circa 1851) and Isabella Cripps (1844-1899). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1882 in the Sculcoates regis...

Person, Armed Forces, France

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Canadian Firefighters

Canadian Firefighters

The idea of the fire fighters volunteering to assist Britain was developed between the British government and the then Canadian Prime Minister, Mackenzie King. The Canadian fire fighters museum web...

Group, Armed Forces, Canada

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Francis Golding

Francis Golding

Architectural expert:  honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), head of the Royal Fine Art Commission during the late 1990s and had worked on major projects such as the ...

Person, Architecture, Cyclist, Tragedy

1 memorial
Arts Council of England / Great Britain

Arts Council of England / Great Britain

1940 the Committee for Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA) was set up by Royal Charter.  About 1946 it became the Arts Council of Great Britain and in 1994 it was split into national bodies,...

Group, Art

15 memorials
Harrow Heritage Trust

Harrow Heritage Trust

A trust set up with the objectives of encouraging artists and architects of both landscape and buildings to create the heritage of the future, whilst protecting the heritage of the past.

Group, Community / Clubs

8 memorials
William Holmes

William Holmes

Church warden in the Aldwych area in 1807.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Leysian Mission

Leysian Mission

From Wesley's Chapel and from Kay: The Leys School was opened in Cambridge in 1875; just two years after non-Anglicans were admitted to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It was intended to...

Group, Religion, Social Welfare

8 memorials