The First World War – the Great War – still has a unique hold on the imagination of the British public. Emotions have changed over the years from the initial horror and grief, anger and shock, to a more mellow understanding that even a century after it ended it is still part of the history of many families living today. A tenth of the men who served in the armed forces never returned, and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren they never had are still missing – conspicuous by their absence. As the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Armistice came round, the public was in the mood for one more, perhaps one final, day of national remembrance. Maybe it was a final goodbye.