First World War Centenary – National Assembly to mark Remembrance Day with series of events

Published 07/11/2014   |   Last Updated 09/06/2015

The Senedd will fall silent at 11.00 on 11 November to mark the ultimate sacrifice made by Welsh soldiers.

The two minute silence will be led by Presiding Officer Dame Rosemary Butler AM following the sounding of the Last Post by bugler Claire Bourne, of the RAF St Athan Voluntary Band, in the Neuadd.

The commemoration ceremony will form the centrepiece of a series of events being held on the Assembly's estate to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

They include:

  • the launch of the Welsh Centre for International Affairs' (WCIA) "Wales for Peace" programme;
  • the Council for Education in World Citizenship Wales (CEWC Cymru) youth debate about the role Wales can play in building peace across the globe; and
  • a lecture from Professor Jenny Mathers of Aberystwyth University about Wales's role in the First World War.

"In the year that we mark the Centenary of the outbreak of the First World War it is right that the National Assembly takes a central role in marking the sacrifice of soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice" Dame Rosemary said.

"More than 40,000 Welsh soldiers gave their lives in the First World War, with thousands more killed in conflicts across the globe and throughout history.

"Many of us have a personal link to the brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields of the First World War.

"My great uncle, John William Peacey, lost his life during that war, one of the millions cut down in their youth.

"It is a great honour for me to represent the National Assembly for Wales on this Remembrance Day in the year that we mark the hundredth anniversary of the Great War."

At 9.00 the WCIA will launch its "Wales for Peace" programme in the Pierhead.

The two minute silence will begin in the Neuadd at 11.00.

That will be followed by the CEWC Cymru youth debate in Siambr Hywel at 11.30.

Professor Jenny Mathers will deliver her lecture in the Pierhead at 18.00.