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divdiv class=story-body readability=48 span class=story-date#13; span class=date10 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time08:47 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryB readability=2#13; div id=emp-24889126-9138 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71024000/jpg/_71024778_71024777.jpg alt=The Queen at the Cenotaph/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionThe Queen led those who paid tribute to service personnel who have died in conflict, laying a wreath at the Cenotaph/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1The UK fell silent in tribute to service personnel who have died during conflicts, as part of the annual Remembrance Sunday service./p#13; pA two-minute silence was observed, before the Queen laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph in central London./p#13; pMore than 10,000 military veterans and civilian representatives marched past the monument./p#13; pServices also took place at memorials across the UK, in Commonwealth countries and at bases abroad./p#13; span class=cross-headBowed heads /span#13; pThe crowds gathered in central London stood quietly as Big Ben struck 11:00 GMT./p#13; div class=story-feature wide readability=6#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2At the scene/h2#13; !-- pullout-items--#13; #13; !-- pullout-body--#13; pIt is a familiar scene, a tradition inaugurated in 1919 and faithfully repeated ever since, a ritual that scarcely changes./p#13; pIt is one I have watched many times on television./p#13; pBut only when you stand in Whitehall do you fully grasp the way the silence and solemnity continue for several minutes more, while the Queen and other members of the Royal Family and the service chiefs lay the first wreaths of poppies at the foot of the Cenotaph./p#13; #13; !-- pullout-links--#13; ul class=links-listlia href=/news/uk-24889161Read more: Silence and solemnity at Cenotaph/a/li#13; /ul/div p id=story_continues_2The beginning and end of the silence was marked with the firing of a round by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, using a 13-pounder World War One gun. /p#13; pThe monarch then laid her wreath at the foot of the monument, the focal point of the UK's Remembrance Sunday events since World War One, bowing her head after paying her respects. /p#13; pOn a sunny but crisp autumn day, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry laid wreaths./p#13; pPrime Minister David Cameron was next to pay his respects, followed by Labour leader Ed Miliband and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg./p#13; pFormer prime ministers Sir John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, along with London Mayor Boris Johnson, also took part in the ceremony, as did military and emergency service chiefs and representatives from Commonwealth countries./p#13; #13;#13;#13;#13;#13;#13; pThe assembled marchers - who for the first time included representatives of a World War Two unit known as Churchill's Secret Army - then set off down Whitehall./p#13; pIn events elsewhere:/p#13; ulli In a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24880348Scotland,/a First Minister Alex Salmond and Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael laid wreaths at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh/li#13; li a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24882240In Wales/a, the main event took place at Cardiff's Welsh National War Memorial/li#13; li Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-24888268laid a laurel wreath at the memorial in Enniskillen,/a while in Belfast, Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Ireland's deputy leader, Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore, attended a ceremony/li#13; li Some of the largest gatherings outside London took place in Birmingham, York, Portsmouth and Bristol/li#13; li At Camp Bastion, in Helmand Province, a href=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/duke-of-york-and-defence-secretary-pay-respects-at-remembrance-service-in-afghanistana service was held to remember the 446 servicemen killed in the 11 years of conflict in Afghanistan/a. Wreaths were laid by the Duke of York and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond/li#13; li The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall marked the event during their official tour of India, joining the congregation of a Mumbai church for their annual remembrance service and meeting some of India's last surviving World War Two veterans/li#13; li Meanwhile, police issued an appeal after World War One a href=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-24888815medals were stolen from a Nottinghamshire house/a, a day before Remembrance Sunday/li#13; /ulpAmong those who marched past the Cenotaph for the first time, were 41 members of the British Resistance Movement - known as Churchill's Secret Army or the Coleshill Auxiliaries - volunteer fighters charged with going underground to continue the fight in the event of a German invasion of Britain in World War Two./p#13; pJohn Brunel Cohen, a D-Day veteran, was among those who gathered in London./p#13; pThe whole parade is very thought provoking, evocative and emotive, he said. To march through the streets of London cheered by thousands is an experience however often you've done it./p#13; !-- Embedding the video player --#13;!-- This is the embedded player component --#13;#13;#13; #13; #13;#13;#13;#13;!-- wwrights check --#13;!-- Empty country is used on test environment --#13;#13;#13;#13;div class=videoInStoryC readability=1#13; div id=emp-24887931-9139 class=emp#13; #13; #13; noscript#13; div class=warning readability=1#13; img class=holding src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71027000/jpg/_71027922_71027921.jpg alt=Soldiers in Helmand/pstrongPlease turn on JavaScript./strong Media requires JavaScript to play./p#13; /div#13; /noscript#13; #13; !-- embedding script --#13; #13; /div#13; !-- companion banner -- #13; #13; #13; #13; !-- END - companion banner --!-- caption --p class=captionA remembrance service has been held at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province/p#13; !-- END - caption --#13; #13; #13;#13;/div#13;!-- end of the embedded player component --#13;#13;!-- Player embedded -- pCol Matt Jackson, who was attending his first service at the Cenotaph, said the experience was hugely humbling./p#13; pDuring the two-minute silence, you could see the thought process behind everybody about what they were doing and the remembrance and what it obviously meant to a number of individuals, he said./p#13; pYou couldn't hear a thing, other than the leaves in the background./p#13; pKerry Ashworth, whose son James was killed in Afghanistan last year and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery, said it was a special day./p#13; pThe job that they do is so hard and so tough and when somebody loses their life, it's just one little thing that you can do just to remember them for a few minutes, she said./p#13; div class=comment-introduction readability=-49#13; p class=introductionAre you marking Remembrance Sunday today? 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