At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War 95 years ago.

Each year Armistice Day remembers that date. Britain’s Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, joined with Belgian Prince Laurent in laying a wreath to the fallen at the Menin Gate in the Belgian town of Ypres.

It was reduced to rubble during hostilities and the names of almost 55,000 who lost their lives are engraved on the walls. The Duke officially received sandbags which where were filled with soil from World War One cemeteries in Flanders Fields. They will be taken to London to form a memorial garden. It was one of hundreds of ceremonies across Europe.

In the US too the human cost of conflict was remembered in the country’s annual Veterans Day. President Barack Obama laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery after hosting a breakfast for many members of the military.

In his Veterans Day speech he said the country’s obligations to those who have served, “endure long after the battle ends”.