Paris Remembrance

French and British Leaders Honour Churchill on Armistice Day

By DAVID M. HANNAH

In France, the annual Armistice Commemoration takes place at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month—the moment when the First World War ended on November 11, 1918. The ceremony is focused on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe. This equates to the National Remembrance Commemoration at the Cenotaph in the United Kingdom and the Veterans Day wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery in the United States. As such, it is a hugely important and symbolic national event.

This year, at the initiative of the Elysée Palace, the traditional format of the Commemoration was adapted to evoke the eightieth anniversary of the Armistice Commemoration that took place on November 11, 1944, when Prime Minister Winston Churchill was invited to lay a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe alongside General Charles de Gaulle. In the eyes of many at the time, this act represented at least tacit recognition of the legitimacy of de Gaulle’s Provisional Government. It has come to be seen as a key event contributing to restoring France to its rightful place as a Sovereign power amongst the Allies.

In recognition of this anniversary, President Emmanuel Macron invited Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to join him at this year’s Armistice Commemoration. It was the first time a British Prime Minister had participated in the Paris ceremony since Churchill. In a special tribute to Churchill, whose 150th birthday celebration took place at the end of November, an extra serial was added to the traditional programme. The President and Prime Minister stopped en route to the Arc de Triomphe in order to lay a wreath together at the Churchill statue on Avenue Winston S. Churchill.

At the subsequent Wreath-laying ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, the British-French “entente Cordiale” theme was further echoed with the presence of the British Chief of the General Staff, Gen Sir Roly Walker (representing the British Chief of Defence Staff) and the Regimental Band of the Rifles, which was on parade alongside the tri-service French units. This evoked further the events of eighty years ago when Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke was with Churchill along with the Regimental Band of the Grenadier Guards.

His Majety’s Ambassador to the French Republic, Dame Menna Rawlings, described the visit as “historic” and one of the high points of her time in post. She went on to emphasise the timely importance of sending a message around the world about British and French unity and solidarity.

Colonel David M. Hannah MBE (Ret.) is Chief of Staff of the Defence Staff at the British Embassy in Paris.

Bulletin #199 — Dec 2024