Aberdeen ground to a halt yesterday morning as thousands paused to reflect on the freedoms they enjoy thanks to the sacrifices made by those who paid for it with their lives.
When clock hands struck the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the largest conflict in history came to an end.
Every year since then, at that very moment, the nation has stopped to pay its respects on Armistice Day – and yesterday was no different.
In Aberdeen a ceremony was held at Marischal College, where wreathes of poppies sent in from all corners of the north-east and beyond were laid.
Among the tributes included a wreath sent north from Westminster by Aberdeen’s two MPs, Callum McCaig and Kirsty Blackman.
One of the dozens of other poppy rings was created by the 51st Highland Battalion, the 7 Scots, quoting Robert Binyon’s famous war poem, For The Fallen.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,” it says.
“Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
“At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
“We will remember them.”
Aberdeen’s councillors left the chambers of the Town House to attend the service at Marischal College, where they bowed their heads in quiet contemplation.
George Adam, the Lord Provost of the city, was one of the councillors at the ceremony.
He said: “It’s important that we show respect to those who fought for their country, who were willing to give up their lives or those who gave up their lives. We need to respect and remember them.
“It’s also an important tradition for today’s young people, as there were so many men from Aberdeen and the north-east, from teenagers to young men, who lost their lives in the two World Wars.
“It’s important that young people of that age today remember what those who came before them went through in the interests of freedom.”