UK to mark WWI centenary year on Armistice Day

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Britain's Prince Harry opened the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday to commemorate the memory of soldiers killed in the conflict since the beginning of World War I.

The annual Field of Remembrance event is held in the run-up to November 11 each year at Westminster Abbey in central London.

November 11 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and since 1928 members of the public have been invited to commemorate soldiers who died in World War I and in conflicts since then.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attends the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, London, UK, November 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

Besides Prince Harry, another superstar to pay tribute to the 100th anniversary is Big Ben, one of the world's most famous bells, which is set to ring out on Sunday.

According to the UK Parliament authorities, despite ongoing essential conservation works, the Elizabeth Tower's world-famous Great Bell, better known as Big Ben, will strike on Sunday to commemorate those that died in the two world wars and later conflicts.

Big Ben viewed from Parliament Square /VCG Photo

At precisely 11:00 GMT, Big Ben will sound 11 times, with a strike rate of 4.5 seconds, replicating the usual strike rate of the Great Clock.

At 12:30, Big Ben will strike a further 11 times, joining bells across Britain and worldwide to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice, marking the end of the war in 1918. That forms part of as a British government program for bells across the country to ring out in thanksgiving for the end of the war one hundred years ago.

A spokesperson at the Houses of Parliament said only Big Ben itself will strike, not the quarter bells which usually produce the 16 musical notes of the Westminster Chimes.

The Remembrance Cross adorned with a poppy and Prince Harry's Royal Cypher planted in the Field of Remembrance by the British prince. /VCG Photo

Each year tens of thousands of crosses and red and black poppies made from plastic and paper are placed in the Field of Remembrance, with each one representing an individual or military unit.

The Field of Remembrance has been held each year since 1928 in the abbey's grounds opposite the British parliament building, and this year 70,000 tribute crosses have been planted into the ground.

(Cover: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attends the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey, London, UK, November 8, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(with input from Xinhua)