What is an act of Remembrance?

The Act of Remembrance is brief and non-religious, making it exceptionally well-suited to personalised commemorations. You may assemble whatever readings, music or other elements you wish to accompany the Act of Remembrance in order to make your own ceremony or event relevant to your particular community. 

RBL doesn’t prescribe what these should be but services should be inclusive of all members of the community.

The Act of Remembrance consists of the following:

• The Exhortation is recited:
  They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
  Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
  At the going down of the sun and in the morning
  We will remember them.
• The Last Post is sounded.
  (A Piper Lament may be included in Scotland.)
• The Two Minute Silence is observed.
• Reveille is sounded.
• The Kohima Epitaph is recited (optional):
  When you go home, tell them of us and say,
  For your tomorrow, we gave our today.

More about The Exhortation

The exhortation is an excerpt from Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen,” read at Remembrance Day services to commemorate those who have died in war. It includes the lines, “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them”. Following the recitation, the assembled community should respond “We will remember them”. 

For the full poem click HERE

More about the Last Post

“The Last Post” is a military bugle call that traditionally signals the end of the day, but has become a widely recognised piece played at military funerals and remembrance ceremonies to commemorate those who have died. The call symbolises that the deceased’s duty is done and they can rest in peace. It is performed nightly at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, and is a key part of remembrance services around the world, such as on Remembrance Sunday. 

For the Last Post Sheet Music click HERE
To hear the Last Post played by the Bands of HM Royal Marines click HERE

More About the two minute silence

The practice of a two-minute silence was first suggested in South Africa during World War I. It was adopted in Britain and the Commonwealth on Armistice Day, November 11, 1919, to mark the end of the war. The silence was a time to reflect on the sacrifices made, and to remember those who died while serving. 

More about the Kohima Epitaph

The Kohima Epitaph is a famous inscription located at the Kohima War Cemetery in India, and its most widely known lines are: “When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”. Written by classical scholar John Maxwell Edmonds, it honors the soldiers who died in the Battle of Kohima during World War II. The verse was inspired by an ancient Greek epigram about the Battle of Thermopylae