Two minutes' silence enveloped a central Dunedin park at 11am yesterday as traffic was stopped and those gathered at the city's Cenotaph remembered those who served, and serve, in the military.
About 200 people, including 80 children from Macandrew Intermediate School, congregated at the Cenotaph in Queens Gardens to mark the international day of remembrance.
Armistice Day commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War 1 and Germany for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning - the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.
It is traditionally observed around the world in services including two minutes' silence at 11am on November 11.
Just a few older veterans attended Dunedin's central city service, with representatives from the defence forces, police and other emergency services also paying their respects.
Englishman Lee Russell, who served with the Royal Air Force Regiment in Bosnia and who has lived in New Zealand for three years, was also at the Dunedin service.
He said he still could not get over how small the crowds were at Armistice Day services in New Zealand.
Known as Remembrance Day in Britain, it was a huge event, celebrated in the same manner as Anzac Day was here, he said.
Every school and business paused and traffic stood still as Britons observed the two minutes' silence.
"It's a big deal. It has to be. We forget at our peril."
