South Africa The practice of the
Remembrance Day silence originates in
Cape Town, South Africa, where there was a two-minute silence initiated by the daily firing of the
noon day gun on
Signal Hill for a full year from 14 May 1918 to 14 May 1919, known as the Two Minute Silent Pause of Remembrance. The first trial observance endured for three minutes on 13 May, after which the Mayor decided that it was too long, and published a notice in the
Cape Argus that it should be altered from three minutes to two. Signalled by the firing of the
Noon Gun on
Signal Hill, one minute was a time of thanksgiving for those who had returned alive, the second minute was to remember the fallen. He had originally been introduced to the idea of a two-minute pause to honour the dead when his local church adopted the idea proposed by a local businessman, J.A. Eagar, when details of losses at the
Battle of the Somme first came through to Cape Town in July 1916. In 1919, he approached
Lord Northcliffe (the founder of both the
Daily Mirror and the
Daily Mail) with the intention of campaigning for it to be observed annually and Empire-wide. His idea was not taken up.
King George V Milner raised the idea with
Lord Stamfordham, the King's
Private Secretary, who informed the King,
George V, in a note on 27 October 1919: ::The enclosed came to me some weeks ago from an old South African friend of mine, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, who is probably known to you, at any rate by name. I ought to have sent it before.I don't know if such a thing is practicable. But it seems like a fine idea. I think that H.M. would like to see it... The King was enthusiastic and sought approval from the
War Cabinet on 5 November. It was immediately approved, with only
Lord Curzon dissenting. A press statement was released from
the Palace on 7 November 1919, which was published in
The Times:
First two-minute silence on Armistice Day – 11 November 1919 To FitzPatrick's great delight he read:"The whole World Stands to Attention." "Cables from every part of the world showing how the King's message had been accepted and interpreted, were printed. From the Indian jungles to Alaska, on the trains, on the ships at sea, in every part of the globe where a few British were gathered together, the Two-Minute pause was observed." In his own words, Sir Percy stated: FitzPatrick was thanked for his contribution by Lord Stamfordham:
Edward George Honey The Australian government recognises
Edward George Honey as originator of the idea, but he only aired the suggestion (in a letter to a London newspaper) nearly a year after the custom had been initiated in Cape Town, and no convincing trail of evidence has been shown to suggest that his letter had any impact on either Fitzpatrick's or the King's motivation. ==How to observe the silence==