Armistice Remembrance Ceremony at Hohenfels Training Area during Allied Spirit VII

By Staff Sgt. David OversonNovember 14, 2017

Armistice Remembrance Ceremony at Hohenfels Training Area during Allied Spirit VII
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – British Army Chaplain (Maj.) Jason Clarke, (RT) visits with British soldiers prior to an impromptu Armistice Remembrance Ceremony on a cold, wet morning in the middle of the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center's training area in Hohenfel... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Armistice Remembrance Ceremony at Hohenfels Training Area during Allied Spirit VII
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – British Army Chaplain (Maj.) Jason Clarke, presides over an impromptu Armistice Remembrance Ceremony on a cold, wet morning in the middle of the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center's training area in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 11, 2017, as... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Armistice Remembrance Ceremony at Hohenfels Training Area during Allied Spirit VII
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – British soldiers conduct an impromptu Armistice Remembrance Ceremony on a cold, wet morning in the middle of the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Readiness Center's training area in Hohenfels, Germany, Nov. 11, 2017, as they participate in Allied Spir... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

HOHENFELS, Germany -- Despite rain, sleet and snow, coupled with the austere environment of the Hohenfels Training Area, and the vigorous tempo of exercise Allied Spirit VII, British Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of the Fusiliers participated in an Armistice Remembrance Ceremony Nov. 12, 2017.

The British Soldiers circled around British Army Chaplain (Maj.) Jason Clarke as he performed the remembrance ceremony on a cold, wet morning in the middle of an army training exercise. In Britain, it is tradition to pause for two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. on November 11, or the Sunday nearest the 11th, to remember the fallen from the two world wars and the British servicemen killed or injured since 1945.

Chaplain Clarke, the senior chaplain of the 1st Armored Infantry Brigade, British Army, made it a point to mention that even though they were in the field, they were participating in a ceremony which simultaneously, or as closely as possible, was being conducted with another ceremony Her Royal Majesty, the Queen, was participating in back in London.

"There are few greater honors to stand alongside your fellow soldiers and to be with them as they remember," said Clarke. "It means the world to us that we hold that memory with honor and respect."

The British soldiers were participating in Allied Spirit VII, along with approximately 4,000 other service members from 13 nations at the U.S. Army's Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany, which runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 22, 2017. Allied Spirit is a U.S. Army Europe-directed, 7ATC-conducted multinational exercise series designed to develop and enhance NATO and key partner's interoperability and readiness.

Although hostilities continued in some areas, the armistice essentially brought an end to four years of fighting in the First World War.