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

General Kim Yo Hwan

General Kim Yo Hwan

Chief of Staff, The Republic of Korea Army in 2014.

Person, Armed Forces

1 memorial
P. N. Wallis

P. N. Wallis

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
W. T. Kenny

W. T. Kenny

J. Lyons & Co. Ltd. staff member who died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Victor Keep

Victor Keep

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

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

Previously viewed

Agne Bolden

Agne Bolden

Married to Henry Goulding in 1574.

Person, Property

1 memorial
Derwent Wood

Derwent Wood

Sculptor. Born Francis Derwent Wood at Eskin Place, Caslerigg, St John's, Keswick, Cumberland. His family moved to Switzerland and then Germany, where he studied and became proficient in three lang...

Person, Sculpture, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland

3 memorials
Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts

Baroness Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts

One of the great Victorian philanthropists who sought to rid London of its slums. Also one of the richest women in Britain in the mid 19th Century, widely respected for her undying generosity and p...

Person, Philanthropy

12 memorials
Lilian Faithfull

Lilian Faithfull

English teacher, headmistress, women's rights advocate, magistrate, social worker and humanitarian. Born Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, she graduated with a first in English at Oxford University in 188...

Person, Education, Gender Issues, Social Welfare

1 memorial