This evening, attention will focus on the small military cemetery of Saint-Symphorien, outside the Belgian city of Mons, where 229 Commonwealth and 284 German solders are buried. World leaders and royals will attend an international ceremony of reconciliation.

The grave of the Unknown Warrior, central to events in Westminster Abbey this evening, bears these words: "Beneath the stone rests the body of a British Warrior unknown by name or rank, brought from France to lie among the most illustrious of the land, and buried here on Armistice Day 11 Nov 1920... They buried him among the kings because he had done good towards God and toward his house."

Image source, Arthur "Pat" Ashwell

Jessica Armstrong emails: My great-great uncle, Major Arthur "Pat" Ashwell, 1/8th Battalion The Sherwood Foresters, fought 1915-1917. He was wounded twice, the first time shot in the shoulder, the second in the head. Fortunately he survived (with a huge dent in his forehead which fascinated us as children). He was awarded the DSO for his actions in 1915 & later the OBE for services to the TA during WW2. He lived until he was 100!

The service at Westminster Abbey in London will begin at 22:00. The Very Reverend Dr John Hall will welcome the congregation by reminding them the abbey holds the tomb of the Unknown Warrior from the Great War - representing all the dead whose bodies were never found.

"The Grave reminds us of the meaning of war, but our focus is not tonight on remembrance. In solemnly commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, as we reflect on the failure of the human spirit that led to an inexorable slide into war, let us spend a moment in silent repentance."

The cathedral has published the full order of service, external on its website.

A vigil is being held throughout the day in Birmingham Cathedral. This tapestry has been created to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One. BBC Radio 5Live's Phil Williams will be broadcasting live from the cathedral at 21:30 BST.

News from 1914
The world on the brink of war

Image source, Getty Images

The Battle of Mons

The first battle between the British Army and the German Army started on 23 August 1914 at Mons in Belgium.

As the German Army marched across Belgium, they were met at Mons-Condé Canal by 70,000 British troops under the command of British General Sir John French.

The British troops were outnumbered more than two to one, and ill-prepared for modern warfare. They were soon forced to retreat.

Author Sebastian Faulks has told BBC the effects of WW1 are still felt across the world: "The birth of seven new countries, the dividing up of the Middle East, the rise of the Soviet Union - all these things we are still dealing with today. As well as how Europe in 1914-18 got a first taste of genocide and what it was like, and how Europe showed - unfortunately - a taste for this. The mass murder of millions of people became almost a political tool, at least, as a result of the First World War, it became something that politicians contemplated."

In Westminster Abbey later, author Sebastian Faulks will be reading from his novel Birdsong, which follows a soldier's journey through World War One. He told the BBC that the passage he has chosen, an extract from a character's diary, "speaks for a lot of ordinary soldiers, how they found themselves in a world they never thought they would inhabit, a world which he describes as being tilted into an unnatural orbit. It is about the dislocation between peace and war."

Image source, Ian Rowe

Ian Rowe emails: The Baxter brothers on the attached newspaper cutting were my great great uncle, and William Smith, the drummer boy, was my great uncle. Robert Baxter died on The Somme in 1916. My grandfather Leonard Rowe also fought on the Western Front in the Middlesex Yeomanry. It was fortunate that the family's losses were not greater. I will be thinking of them all this evening.

Andrew Harding
Africa correspondent

"It's routinely dismissed as a sideshow, a string of largely inconclusive skirmishes between German and British forces on the lakes, plains and coast of East Africa. And sure enough today's anniversary of the Great War has been greeted with little more than a collective shrug on the African continent. And yet the conflict here had a huge impact. At least a million African men were recruited - or forced - to become porters for rival armies. At least 50,000 Africans fought as soldiers - by the end of the war, most of the Europeans troops had already left. But most of the African dead lie in unmarked graves - their contribution to a colonial war largely forgotten - tales from that era, long supplanted by the memories of more recent conflicts."

Paul Henman emails: My great great grandfather died in the trenches at the Battle of the Somme - on the first day, along with so many other men and boys. He was 25, two years younger than I am now. Those men and boys were braver than I shall ever be. What they must have endured is unimaginable. Let's just hope none of us ever have to suffer as they did.

Image source, Mary Evans Picture Library

Britain's first total war meant the whole population had to be behind the war effort, and there was an impressive array of propaganda. Was this the birth of spin? Historian and broadcaster Neil Oliver investigates.

BBC Newsbeat have tweeted this spectacular image, external of the Tower of London from above, showing the scale of its poppy art installation. Hundreds of thousands of ceramic flowers have been planted to mark every single British and Commonwealth death in the war.

What has shaped your understanding of WW1? If you think of the war as being full of inept generals and futile battles, you may have been influenced by Oh What a Lovely War, says broadcaster and journalist Joan Bakewell.

Image source, Anne Polhill Walton

Anne Polhill Walton emails: My paternal grandfather, Wilfred B Thompson, lied about his age to enlist with the Royal Flying Corps twenty days before his 17th birthday. He flew reconnaissance missions in Europe and (according to family lore) was part of the escort for the King of Belgium - when in danger from enemy aircraft and having run out of bullets, he gained height and threw his toolbox down on the other plane!

Duncan Redman on the BBC News Google+ page comments, external: Was updating my family tree and have discovered 10 distant relations fought in the Great War, one of whom was only 15 when he enlisted. Unfortunately he was killed in action in Flanders in March 1918.

Image source, PA

An image from Africa - the UK Ministry of Defence has sent this image of HMS Iron Duke Commanding Officer Cmdr Tom Tredray laying a wreath at a war cemetery near Sekondi, in Ghana.

News from 1914
The world on the brink of war

Image source, Getty Images

Hundreds of thousands of eager teenagers were able to join the army, despite being officially under age. Few people had birth certificates in 1914, so as long as they met the minimum height of five feet, three inches, boys had a good chance of getting in.

Image source, AFP

Britain's Prince Harry talks to Chelsea Pensioners, British war veterans from the Chelsea Royal Hospital, during the "Step Short" commemorative event in Folkestone.

News from 1914
The world on the brink of war

Image source, Reverend Paul Tongue

Chaplains sent to the front

In August 1914, there were 117 commissioned chaplains, representing three denominations. More than 100 chaplains were killed during active service in the war.

Reverend Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy, better known as Woodbine Willie, became one of the best known figures of World War One. At the outbreak of war he volunteered as a chaplain, and won the Military Cross in 1917.

His habit of handing out cigarettes to troops earned him his nickname, being a heavy smoker himself. Cigarettes were one of the most common comforts given to soldiers during the war.