11/11/11

The 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month. A reflective palindrome in the 11th year of the 21st century. Bermuda takes Armistice Day or Remembrance Day as they call it here very seriously. Today is a national holiday in Bermuda with shops and businesses closed to remember those that were lost. The island lost 125 men during both world wars fighting overseas on behalf of the Brits, Americans and Canadians protecting the freedom of those home in Bermuda.

At 11am today guns are fired at Fort Hamilton and Ordnance Island, St. George’s, to signal the two-minute silence and a parade by veterans is held in Hamilton ending with wreaths being laid at the Cenotaph on Front Street in Hamilton.

“If ye break faith with us who die, we will not sleep, though poppies grow in Flander’s fields.”