Men, women and children across Wandsworth fell silent on Armistice Day in honour millions of British war dead.

Crowds gathered this morning at Battersea war memorial and Wandsworth town hall to lay wreaths and remember those who died in the name of war.

The event marks the 96th anniversary of the moment the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War. A two minute silence was observed at 11am to mark the ceasefire of 1918.

Mayor of Wandsworth Councillor Stuart Thom and leader Councillor Ravi Govindia attended the ceremony at Battersea Park’s war memorial.

Battersea MP Jane Ellison laid a wreath on behalf of members of Parliament and added: "There could not be a more beautiful setting for an act of remembrance which brings together all the groups and generations that make up our community - from the veterans of the British Legion to the children of local primary schools.

"I was honoured to play my part by laying a wreath on behalf of members of Parliament."

Bugler Jonathan Spencer played the Last Post and Reveille and piper Terry Goodman, from the London Irish Rifles, performed a Lament as the wreaths were laid.

The ceremony was dedicated to the service of the 24th (London) Division during the First World War and descendants of Major General Sir John Capper, who commanded the division, were among those in attendance.

Veterans from Battersea and Clapham Junction who served in the 8th Battalion The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment during the August 1916 attack on Guillemont and the repelling of the German counterattack on Delville Wood during the Battle of the Somme and in 1917 at Vimy Ridge during the Arras offensive also attended the service.

A town hall service was held in the garden in Wandsworth High Street where a new stone has been laid to commemorate sacrifices made by local service men and women.


Men and women who gave their lives for their country were honoured across Wandsworth this Remembrance Sunday.

There were three main Remembrance Day services in the borough on Sunday, November 9, at St Mary’s Church in Battersea Church Road, St Mary’s Church, Putney Bridge and Holy Trinity Church, Ponsonby Road, Roehampton.

Local dignitaries attended the Putney and Battersea ceremonies and ex servicemen and women placed wreaths at the war memorials in the borough.

At 11am, a two-minute’s silence was observed in memory of the fallen.


Burntwood Academy for Girls planted poppies this morning to create their own little poppy field similar to that at the Tower of London.

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Tooting MP Sadiq Khan attended the event and said: "It was a real honour to join students at Burntwood School to help to them create their own, smaller version of the Tower of London’s poppy field and, to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and our future.

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"It is really important that young people, in particular, learn about the sacrifices made by previous generations to give them the rights and freedoms we all have."

Mr Khan also attended the launch of A Parish in Wartime at St Anslem’s Church, Tooting Bec, a book that remembers those from the parish who died in the first and second world wars.


The Balham Territorial Army hall is home to a new war memorial which was kindly donated to them.

The centre, which is home to various cadets and the London Regiment of the Fusiliers, unveiled the new memorial from Gillman Memorials, in Blackshaw Road, Tooting.

One of the legion’s veterans, Bill Champion, unveiled the giant poppy, last month, as he marked his 21st year collecting for the poppy appeal.

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The giant poppy memorial, which has ‘lest we forget’ in 22 carat gold above it, was the centre piece for ceremonies on both Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day.

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Jim Ballard (pictured), chairman of the Royal British Legion Balham and South Clapham, thanked the memorial company and said: “People came and stood with the soldiers. It seems we had a good response to the poppy campaign this year too – a couple of people approached us.”


Last week Battersea MP Jane Ellison sold poppies for the Royal British Legion at Clapham Junction station.

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Jane Ellison with Mayor Stuart Thom 

Ms Ellison has been organising a collection team at the station for the last eight years and this year saw a record amount of money raised, £2,606.

The MP also visited a WWI exhibition at Sacred Heart School, Battersea on November 7.


Southfields Academy held their annual Remembrance Service at St Barnabas Church on Thursday, November 6.

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During the ceremony, head boy, Darren Berrones Mendoza, and headteacher, Jacqueline Valin, remembered former pupil Lance Corporal James Cartwright who fell in combat on June 16, 2007, in Southern Iraq.


Young Muslims from Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, Southfields and Putney visited Wembley Stadium to sell poppies.

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Services were also held at Roehampton University's memorial.

The memorial holds 275 names of people who were relatives of the nuns who founded the Sacred Heart School which used to be in Roehampton, and their pupils during WW1 and subsequent conflicts.

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Paul O’Prey, vice chancellor of the university, laid a wreath at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium earlier this month in memory of all the war poets who died in conflict.

He is a world expert on war poetry and took part in a debate at the Imperial War Museum on the contribution which the war poets on November 5.


Remembrance Sunday was described as "particularly poignant" this year for St Anselm’s Church, in Tooting Bec, where new war memorial plaques were blessed.

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Parish Priest, Father William Hebborn, dedicated the two brass plaques commemorating both world wars.

The Last Post was performed by parishioner Justin Finn and the names of the war dead were read out by Nick Dunne and John Pontifex, who had carried out the research that led to the discovery of the parish war dead.

Mr Dunne and Mr Pontifex's work has led to the publication of a book titled A Parish in Wartime: Remembering the fallen from two World Wars.

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A plaque was unveiled for Sir Thomas Peirson Frank, a London County Council engineer during World War II, on October 29 at Victoria Gardens.

Sir Thomas lived in Chartfield Avenue, Putney, during the war and his granddaughter, Professor Leone Ridsdale, and great-granddaughter Sherry attended the ceremony.

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Sir Thomas' granddaughter Professor Leone Ridsdale, and great-granddaughter Sherry 

Gustav Milne of University College discovered a secret team which were responsible under Sir Thomas for detecting the 122 bombs which breached the walls of the River Thames during World War II and repairing them.