Armistice celebrations

Unfortunately, there have been many other conflicts since then so Armistice Day commemorates all those who have died in conflicts, such as the Falklands war, Bosnia and Kosovo.

The First World War

By the end of the war the British Red Cross had provided 90,000 voluntary aid detachments (volunteers, also known as VADs) who had been mobilised to work at home and abroad. The Red Cross established 1,786 auxiliary hospitals and staffed ambulances, hospital trains and motor launches.

The Red Cross also despatched more than 47,000 food parcels a month to prisoners of war and wounded soldiers. The Red Cross war library sent four million books and magazines to hospital ships, and sick or wounded soldiers and sailors in hospitals at home and abroad.

The wartime relief operation was paid for by donations. The Red Cross raised £21.9 million and spent £20.1 million on hospitals, medicine, clothing, grants and aftercare to the sick and wounded.

Celebrations

“Nov 11th 1918 ... well if everywhere is like London then all England must be mad. It is 7.30pm and half the boys are out – some who haven’t been outside the door for months suddenly found they could walk and I guess are more than merry somewhere…

“I happened to be off this morning and on the off-chance of seeing something went as far as the Bank [of England]. Never will I forget the sight – you are sure to see photographs in the paper. We were perched on top of a bus which was stuck along with many other[s] first between the Royal Exchange and Mansion House at exactly 11 o’clock. As each flag was unfurled everyone tried to outdo the next person in din – it was just lovely…”

Commemoration

The Cenotaph, a new memorial in Whitehall, was unveiled on 23 November 1920. A number of Red Cross officers attended the unveiling, including The Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley, Lady Ampthill and Dame Beryl Oliver.

A red cross and wreath were laid bearing a card which read: “In Honoured Memory of the Gallant Men and Women of the British Red Cross Society and Order of St John of Jerusalem in England, who laid down their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918.”

The names of many personnel who lost their lives are recorded on war memorials throughout the country and overseas. In 1920, the British Red Cross war medal was instituted and awarded to some 41,000 members who had served in the United Kingdom between 1914 and 1919 and were not eligible for British military medals.

Red Cross staff and volunteers still attend local and national remembrance services every year.

Legacy

At the end of the war, county Red Cross demobilisation committees were formed to determine and balance the civil needs and local deficiencies with the surplus equipment, buildings, materiel or cash which remained. The chairman of East Lancashire Branch, Corporal Coates, thought this would help “in no small degree towards keeping the detachments together after the conclusion of peace, a very important matter in view of the activities which I hope the Red Cross will be engaged in”.

In May 1919, the League of Red Cross Societies (now the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) was formed and widened the role of Red Cross National Societies from their focus on wartime relief to peacetime work. The British Red Cross was able to embark on a programme of peacetime activities at home and abroad, having received a Supplementary Charter in 1919 extending its aims to include “the improvement of health, the prevention of disease, and the mitigation of suffering throughout the world”. 

Read more about our auxiliary hospitals

Find out about Red Cross food parcels

Read more about our work during the First World War