Summary

  • Monday 4 August 2014 marked the 100th anniversary of the start of Britain's involvement in WW1

  • About 17m soldiers and civilians worldwide were killed between 1914 and 1918

  • Royal Family members and world leaders attended commemorative events in the UK and elsewhere

  • An international ceremony of reconciliation was held outside the Belgian city of Mons

  • The day's events ended with a candle-lit vigil at Westminster Abbey and "lights out" events around the UK

  1. Postpublished at 11:42 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Memorial Arch opened by Prince Harry

    Prince Harry has opened the Memorial Arch in Folkestone, at the spot where 10 million men began the journey to northern France during the conflict.

  2. Postpublished at 11:39 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Prince Harry in Folkestone

    Prince Harry heard the background to the memorial project in Folkestone and the area's contribution to the war effort, as he arrived earlier.

  3. Postpublished at 11:39 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    George Square Glasgow

    Dignitaries from across the Commonwealth are continuing to arrive in George Square in Glasgow for a wreath-laying ceremony.

  4. Postpublished at 11:34 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Australia PM Tony Abbott with schoolchildren during a walk at the "Roll of Honour" in Canberra (4 Aug 2014)Image source, AFP

    Earlier today in Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott walked schoolchildren past the Roll of Honour in Canberra, where the names of the Australians who died in WW1 are listed.

  5. Postpublished at 11:33 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Prince Harry in Folkestone

    Prince Harry has arrived in Folkestone where he will unveil a memorial shortly.

  6. Postpublished at 11:33 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    James Buchanan
    News Editor, First World War Centenary

    Musician Robert Blencowe of the Coldstream Guards applying spit and polish to his boots ahead of tonight's ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetery in Mons

    Musician Robert Blencowe of the Coldstream Guards applying spit and polish to his boots ahead of tonight's ceremony at St Symphorien Cemetery in Mons.

  7. Get involvedpublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Albert HaywardImage source, John Hayward

    @drjohnhayward tweets:, external Granddad Albert (1896-1939): Ship sunk by a mine off Cape Wrath…Twice saw action inc. Battle of Jutland #Remember #WW1

  8. Postpublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Kevin Lord in Saint Lucia, West Indies, emails: My grandfather, Mathias or Marcel Andrew, served as a signaller in Europe during WW1. When the ship carrying the soldiers was leaving Saint Lucia, the people on shore sang the song 'may all acquaintance be', I think it's called Auld Lang Syne.

  9. Postpublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    A wreath-laying ceremony in Glasgow, at the war memorial in George Square, is about to begin.

  10. Postpublished at 11:28 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Nick Higham
    BBC News

    Mons

    Giving the manicured lawns at St Symphorien, typical of British war cemeteries, some last minute attention #WW1

  11. Postpublished at 11:27 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    News from 1914
    The world on the brink of war

    Folkestone ledger
    Image caption,

    This Folkestone ledger recorded the names of thousands of people who passed through the port in WW1

    Folkestone in WW1

    Folkestone was one of the most important British ports in the war. Around 10 million soldiers, supply men, nurses, and chaplains passed through this port on their way to and from the Western Front.

    At any one time, large numbers of houses, hotels and other buildings were commandeered for the hundreds of thousands of soldiers staying in the town.

    Many of the travellers wrote down their names in a ledger in the Harbour Canteen.

  12. Postpublished at 11:26 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Folkestone World War One ceremony

    In Folkestone, southern England, Prince Harry will soon unveil a memorial arch, commemorating the millions who marched to the Western Front.

  13. Postpublished at 11:26 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Here's a reminder of what is still to come today:

  14. Get involvedpublished at 11:22 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Steve Cheney comments, external: If only we matched this "commemoration" by not throwing our support behind warmongers all over the world.

  15. Postpublished at 11:22 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Sunderland World War One event

    In Sunderland, religious, military and political figures have been marking Britain's entry into the war 100 years ago.

  16. Postpublished at 11:21 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    German military band

    In Liege, a German military band performed for the assembled guests.

  17. Postpublished at 11:20 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Robert Hall
    BBC News, St Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium

    St Symphorien has become an arena, overlooked by a worldwide audience, where this evening's televised event will mark personal sacrifice and celebrate new friendships. Under the pine trees, David MacCarthy had come to find the grave of his great-uncle, killed 10 days after arriving in Belgium, aged 23. Standing in front of the headstone with his daughter, David said he was proud to be here on this anniversary.

  18. Postpublished at 11:19 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Robert Hall
    BBC News, St Symphorien Military Cemetery, Belgium

    The beautiful military cemetery at St Symphorien has been transformed. Across the boundary fence, in what is normally empty farmland, a great grandstand has risen, overlooking the graves of the first and the last British soldier to die in the First World War. Cables snake around the gravestones of British and German soldiers, laid here side by side after the battles that raged around Mons on summer days in 1914.

  19. Postpublished at 11:13 British Summer Time 4 August 2014

    Scottish First Minister outside Glasgow cathedralImage source, Getty Images

    Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond was one of the many political leaders at Glasgow Cathedral this morning. Earlier, he reflected on the impact of the war on Scotland, saying: "Scotland's losses were, per capita, among the highest of any combatant nation, and the war's effects on our nation were profound and long-lasting."