Remembrance

[wotanut]

This weekend is the Scouts remembrance, day parade, so at scouts this evening i decided we should talk about the reason for the remembrance, day - one of the questions they asked me was why 2 minutes of silence

Comments

[orangutank]

I've always had mixed feelings about rememberance day. I mean, yeah, the poor bastards who end up the victims of war should be remembered, but it's all mixed in with the nationalism that got them killed in the first place.

In the end, I threw some cash at the rememberance charity, but didn't wear the poppy. It seems fitting.

[talismancer]

It appears the origin of why it's specifically two is largely unknown. Several people can be seen as potential origins, and various silences of varying lengths have been observed for varying reasons over the years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/remembrance/how/silence.shtml

http://collections.iwm.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.3165

They might help, but I think the best answer is either "Because", or "Because King George V said so"