Edward George Honey (1885 – 1922) was an
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
and
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
who is often credited with having conceived the idea of a moment of silence on
Armistice DayArmistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the...
(now known as
Remembrance DayRemembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on...
). Honey was educated at
Caulfield Grammar SchoolCaulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, and served briefly during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
with the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
before receiving a medical discharge. He later worked in Melbourne as a journalist for
The ArgusThe Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949 when it was acquired by the London based Daily Mirror newspaper group...
newspaper.
On 8 May 1919 Honey, who was working in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
at the time, wrote a letter to the London
Evening NewsEvening News may refer to:In television news:*CBS Evening News, an American news broadcast*ITV Evening News, a UK news broadcast*JNN Evening News, a Japanese news broadcastIn newspapers:...
newspaper under the pen name
Warren Foster suggesting an appropriate commemoration for the first anniversary of
The Armistice TreatyThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
which signalled the end of World War I, signed on 11 November 1918 at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." In the letter he said, "Five little minutes only.
Edward George Honey (1885 – 1922) was an
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
n
soldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
and
journalistA journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
who is often credited with having conceived the idea of a moment of silence on
Armistice DayArmistice Day is the anniversary of the symbolic end of World War I on 11 November 1918. It commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany at Rethondes, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning — the...
(now known as
Remembrance DayRemembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on...
). Honey was educated at
Caulfield Grammar SchoolCaulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
in
MelbourneMelbourne is the capital city and most populous city of the State of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne city centre is the anchor of the larger geographical area and statistical division known as the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area – of which Melbourne is...
, and served briefly during
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
with the
British ArmyThe British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
before receiving a medical discharge. He later worked in Melbourne as a journalist for
The ArgusThe Argus was a morning daily newspaper in Melbourne established in 1846 and closed in 1957. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most of its history, it adopted a left leaning approach from 1949 when it was acquired by the London based Daily Mirror newspaper group...
newspaper.
The concept of Remembrance Day
On 8 May 1919 Honey, who was working in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
at the time, wrote a letter to the London
Evening NewsEvening News may refer to:In television news:*CBS Evening News, an American news broadcast*ITV Evening News, a UK news broadcast*JNN Evening News, a Japanese news broadcastIn newspapers:...
newspaper under the pen name
Warren Foster suggesting an appropriate commemoration for the first anniversary of
The Armistice TreatyThe armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front...
which signalled the end of World War I, signed on 11 November 1918 at the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month." In the letter he said, "Five little minutes only. Five silent minutes of national remembrance. A very sacred intercession. Communion with the Glorious Dead who won us peace, and from the communion new strength, hope and faith in the morrow. Church services, too, if you will, but in the street, the home, the theatre, anywhere, indeed, where Englishmen and their women chance to be, surely in this five minutes of bitter-sweet silence there will be service enough." Honey had been prompted to make the suggestion as he had been angered by the way in which people had celebrated with dancing in the streets on the day of the Armistice, and believed a period of silence to be a far more appropriate gesture in memory of those who had died at war.
Honey's letter did not immediately create the Remembrance Day traditions, but on 27 October 1919, a suggestion from Sir
Percy FitzpatrickSir James Percy FitzPatrick, KCMG , known as Percy FitzPatrick, was a South African author, politician, mining financier and pioneer of the fruit industry. One of his children's books,...
of a similar idea for a moment of silence was forwarded to
George VGeorge V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 1910 through World War I until his death in 1936...
, then King of the United Kingdom, who on 17 November 1919, proclaimed "that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there may be for the brief space of two minutes a complete suspension of all our normal activities … so that in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead."
No record directly suggests Fitzpatrick was prompted by Honey's letter to propose a moment of silence, but Honey was recognised for being involved in the conception of the idea when he was invited by George V to a rehearsal of the moment of silence at
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. The custom of two-minutes of silence on the Armistice Day still occurs throughout much of the former
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
.
See Remembrance DayRemembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on...
details of individual nations' customs.
Legacy
While it is still unclear whether Honey or Sir Percy is truly responsible for the concept of a moment of silence to remember the Armistice, the
Australian governmentThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
officially recognises Honey as having first raised the idea in the public domain.
A monument of Honey was erected by Eric Harding near the
Shrine of RemembranceThe Shrine of Remembrance, located on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, is one of the largest war memorials in Australia, and resides in Kings Domain. It was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I...
in
St Kilda Road, MelbourneSt Kilda Road is a street in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is part of the locality of Melbourne which has the postcode of 3004 and along with Swanston Street forms a major spine of the city....
.
External links
- A period of silence — an Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
history of Remembrance Day and the minute of silence