Twelve Legends & Traditions of the Great War

Buckingham Palace, 11 November1918

1.  11th Hour, 11th Day, 11th Month 

Hostilities ended at this time, day and month in 1918.  November 11th is the date of Armistice/Remembrance/Veterans Day. 

The Angel of Mons, by Marcel Gillis (1897–1972)

2.  The Angel of Mons 

A legend of heavenly intervention grew around the survival  of the British Expeditionary Force after their first battle, August 1914. 

Sydney, Australia, 25 April 2023

3.  Anzac Day, 25 April  

The first day's landing at Gallipoli is celebrated as a national holiday in Australia and New Zealand. 

Film Depiction of the Christmas Truce

4.  Christmas Truce of 1914 

When troops spontaneously ceased fire and met in No-Man's-Land to exchange greetings and gifts and to play football.

5.  The Leaning Virgin of Albert 

When a steeple-top statue of the Virgin and Child at the Albert Basilica (France) was knocked askew, soldiers believed the war would end when she fell, which she did in 1918.

6.  The Red Baron 

Manfred von Richthofen, greatest air ace of the war is an internationally recognized archetype of personal excellence.

7.  Red Poppies 

Symbol of the Great War and veterans; developed in response to Canadian John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields". 

8.  Taxicabs of the Marne 

Drafted into delivering troops to the front at a critical moment, the taxis of Paris embodied French determination in 1914. 

9.  Toc H (Talbot House) 

At Poperinghe, a town just in the British rear near Ypres, was founded as refuge of peace and fellowship for the troops of any rank. Its doors are still open today.

10. Unknown Soldiers 

The war produced so many casualties and missing that some countries selected a single "Unknown" to represent all of their fallen. More than 50 countries have such memorials today.

11. The Voie Sacrée 

The only supply road kept open by determined French engineers during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 is now commemorated as the "Sacred Way". 

12. Last Post at the Menin Gate

Nightly at 8 p.m. since 1928, traffic has been halted and the Last Post bugle call sounded under the arch of the Ypres, Belgium, Menin Gate Memorial, which lists the names of over 54,000 British missing from the nearby battles.

This List Is not Intended to Be Comprehensive