Silence was observed after the ship’s bell from HMS Crane was rung at the town hall as Tower Hamlets Council paid tribute to those who lost their lives during two world wars.

East London Advertiser: Former crewman Malcom Tagg gives a history of HMS Crane next to the ship's bell in the town hall foyer which had been tolled for Remembrance. Picture: Kois MiahFormer crewman Malcom Tagg gives a history of HMS Crane next to the ship's bell in the town hall foyer which had been tolled for Remembrance. Picture: Kois Miah (Image: Kois Miah)

The Remembrance Day service in the foyer was at the 11th hour yesterday of the 11th month, marking the exact moment the guns fell silent in 1918 at the end of the First World War.

The commemoration also recognised those who fell in battle in the Second World War and subsequent conflicts.

Wreaths were laid after the two-minute silence by former Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the County of London Commander John Ludgate, who was given the freedom of the borough when he retired last year, former HMS Crane crew member Malcolm Tagg and retired Commander John Herriman, former chief of HMS President Royal Naval Reserve base at St Katherine's Dock by the Tower of London.

The former Bethnal Green borough council had adopted HMS Crane when it was launched in 1942. The connection with its former crew has been maintained ever since, with the ship's bell kept at the town hall.

HMS Crane was the fourth Royal Navy warship bearing the name over the past 430 years, which was broken up in 1965 after 23 years active service—ironically the same year Bethnal Green was broken up to merge with Stepney and Poplar to create Tower Hamlets.