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

Lord Raglan

Lord Raglan

FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. Commander in the Crimean War 1853 - 56. It is generally thought to have been his overall incompetence that led to the disaster of the Charge of the Light Brigade...

Person, Armed Forces, Crimea

3 memorials
Major Byron F. Caws

Major Byron F. Caws

Believed to have assisted Fowler in his work on the Concise Oxford Dictionary. The Latin on the memorial, 'castigavit et emendavit', translates as “he corrected and improved“, which is quite an ac...

Person, Architecture, Armed Forces, Engineering, Literature

1 memorial
W. G. Ifould

W. G. Ifould

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Lieutenant Christopher Fothergill Robinson

Lieutenant Christopher Fothergill Robinson

Christopher Fothergill Robinson was born 1 December 1909 in Lincoln, Ontario, Canada, the fourth of the five children of Richmond Fothergill Robinson (1879-1915) and Mabel Gertrude Robinson née Sin...

Person, Armed Forces, Canada

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Hy. Harwood

Hy. Harwood

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Burnet, Tait and Lorne

Burnet, Tait and Lorne

Architects. The practice comprised John James Burnet, Thomas Smith Tait and Francis Lorne. Their works include the King Edward VII galleries at the British Museum.

Group, Architecture, Scotland

1 memorial
Fountains Abbey pub

Fountains Abbey pub

Sir Alexander Fleming was a loyal regular. Legend says that it was mould spores from this ale house which blew through Fleming’s window, leading him to the discovery of Penicillin in 1928.   The Fo...

Building, Commerce, Food & Drink

1 memorial
George Fox

George Fox

Founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Born Leicestershire. Died in a house near the Gracechurch Street meeting house. The exact location of his grave in Bunhill Fields Burial Ground is un...

Person, Religion

2 memorials
King George IV

King George IV

Regent: 1811 - 1820. Reigned: 1820 - 1830. After secretly marrying Mrs Fitzherbert, he then officially married Princess Caroline of Brunswick. Built the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. A statue of him ...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty, Seriously Famous

17 memorials
Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

Officially, The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. According to tradition, there has been a religious establishment on the site since the seventh century. Construction of the present bui...

Building, Religion

3 memorials