Ceremonies were held throughout Europe today to mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the First World War.

Britain held a two-minute silence at 11am to remember those who were killed - marking the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, when the Armistice Treaty was signed.

Of the five million men and women who served, four British veterans are still alive today.

Henry Allingham, 112, representing the RAF, Bill Stone, 108, representing the Navy, and Harry Patch, 110, representing the Army, all laid wreaths at the Cenotaph ceremony.

The great battle

Day by day our bombardment has grown in intensity, until under the dreadful hurricane whole reaches of enemy trenches have been battered out of existence

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The other surviving British veteran, Claude Choules, 107, lives in Australia and will mark the 90th anniversary at local events there.

Last Tuesday, Sydney Lucas, originally from Leicester, who was just 17 when he was conscripted as a soldier with the Sherwood Foresters regiment, died in Australia aged 108.

Heroes of today’s armed forces accompanied the three men to the Cenotaph, along with Gordon Brown, John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, the Duchess of Gloucester and thousands of members of the public.

The event will almost certainly be the last significant anniversary that any of those who fought in the First World War will mark.

Mr Patch, a machine-gunner in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry who fought during the Battle of Passchendaele in Ypres, which claimed the lives of more than 70,000 soldiers, said: "I am very happy to be here today. It is not just an honour for me but for an entire generation. It is important to remember the dead from both sides of the conflict. Irrespective of the uniforms we wore, we were all victims."

Mr Stone said: "I shall never forget it. I was one of the lucky ones and I’m thankful for that.

"Of course they should be remembered. If it wasn’t for them (those who died) we wouldn’t be here."

Mr Allingham said: "I’m glad to be here. It means a lot to me. I hope people realise what my pals sacrificed on their behalf.

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