Senses
The first Remembrance Day, which took place in 1919, was observed by a great many
people. Church bells rang to announce the commemoration, people stopped their work
and stood quietly. Electricity supplies were even cut off to stop trams so that traffic fell
silent.
In Year 5 pupils considered why they thought the whole country seemed to come to a standstill in 1919 for the
two-minute silence? They imagined it was 1919 and were part of the first two-minute silence for Remembrance
Sunday. Everybody paused and stopped what they were doing.
This is your moment that
you say goodbye to everyone who died in the First World War. This is a moment to share
others’ grief. Describe what you see. Describe what you feel.
Use the five senses in your description so people can see the scene in their mind. What
can you see, hear, smell, feel and taste?
Read some of their thoughts:
Dear Diary,
Today, I had the saddest day of my life.
As soon as I arrived at the Cenotaph, I could see people placing fresh floral wreaths and the wind was whistling north. I could smell the dust on the floor and deep inside I felt the spirits of the soldiers that had passed away.
When the clock struck 11.00am, there was an eerie two minute silence. Noiseless. Tears were rolling down people’s cheeks. Children were sobbing and distraught at the thought of their father never returning. I could hear autumn leaves rustling in the distance from the nearly bare trees. But for the entire two minutes nobody spoke a word. This was our chance to remember everyone who fought for our country and lost their lives at war. It was our chance to be grateful that we had survived.
As I stepped away from the memorial, I watched the sorrowful mothers collapse to my feet and people were quickly barging through the crowd to lay their own flowers. Families were heartbroken. I could hear people screaming goodbye to their loved ones and an elderly couple nearby were praying for the loss of their sons.
By Joshua, Arya and Molly-May
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