Remembrance Sunday: Tower Hill pays tribute to war dead

Seafarers past and present stood silent in east London this morning to honour the country’s war dead.

Veterans, sea cadets, scouts and spectators at the Merchant Navy War Memorial in Trinity Square Gardens joined the nation in a two-minute silence at 11am, as part of Remembrance Sunday.

“Grant that their memory may inspire each one of us so to do our duty, that the peace they won for the world may ever remain unsullied,” said Rev Reg Sweet, conducting, in a prayer.

The honorary chaplain to the Honourable Company of Master Mariners asked that people around the world be joined “in the bonds of peace”.

Dwarfing him stood rows of names commemorating the 35,800 merchants whose grave is the sea.

Poplar and Limehouse MP Jim Fitzpatrick and representatives from groups including the Metropolitan Police and Merchant Navy Association laid wreaths in their honour.

The service in Tower Hill ran at the same time as the ceremony at the Cenotaph, in Whitehall, attended by the Queen, Prime Minister Theresa May and political party leaders.

The crowd dispersed at around midday after a rendition of the national anthem by the Philip Wake Quartet.