Unable to hold back their tears any longer, two grieving mothers lent a poignant note to a Remembrance Day parade in a Warwickshire village yesterday.

Sharon Stephens and Mandy Baylis, whose firefighter sons perished 10 days ago in a warehouse fire at Atherstone-on-Stour, joined members of the county fire brigade at St Nicholas Church, Alcester.

Both mothers wore their sons' peaked caps as more than 1,000 members of the public looked on in silence.

The bodies of Mrs Stephens' son Ashley, aged 20, and Mrs Baylis' son, Darren Yates-Badley, aged 24, both retained firefighters at Alcester, were recovered four days after a suspected arson attack wrecked the warehouse on November 2.

Two other firefighters, 44-year-old Ian Reid and John Averis, aged 27, also died in the blaze, making the incident the worst loss of life for the fire service for years.

The sombre parade was just one of many hundreds of acts of remembrance across the country, led by the Queen at the Cenotaph in London.

The monarch paid silent tribute to the servicemen, women and civilians who have died serving Britain since the First World War at the annual service in Whitehall.

Senior members of the Royal Family followed the Queen in laying wreaths at the monument as communities throughout Britain remembered their own war heroes in church services and at war memorials.

Before the wreaths were laid a round was fired on nearby Horse Guards Parade by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery to mark the start of the two minutes silence.

The whole of Whitehall fell silent as the thousands gathered bowed their heads to remember the war dead.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader David Cameron, acting Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and more than 40 High Commissioners from Commonwealth countries also left floral tributes to the war dead at the Cenotaph.

Prince William - an officer in the Blues and Royals - laid a wreath for the first time.

Watching from balconies at the Foreign and Commonwealth Officer were the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Alexandra and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence.

Prince Harry, a cornet in the Blues and Royals, was not present. A Clarence House spokeswoman said he attended a private remembrance service with his regiment.

Politicians past and present also gathered to pay their respects, including former prime ministers Baroness Thatcher, Sir John Major and Tony Blair and senior Cabinet Ministers including Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

Thousands lined the pavements of Whitehall and observed the two minutes' silence at 11am as a remark of respect to the fallen service personnel and civilians.

War veterans, many elderly and frail, marched close to the Cenotaph and proudly wore their medals and regimental berets.

The multi-faith ceremony was attended by representatives from a number of religions including Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, and Dr Indajit Singh, director of the Network of Sikh Organisations.

Chris Simpkins, the Royal British Legion's director general, said: "It is wonderful to see so many people attending remembrance parades and observing the two-minute silence or watching the extensive coverage at home on TV.

"Remembrance Sunday is an occasion when we contemplate and commemorate common values, and remember the past in the context of the present.

In Birmingham, hundreds gathered at the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square to take part in the city's act of remembrance, led by Lord Mayor Randal Brew.

Three thousand people attended the first Remembrance Sunday service to be held at the Armed Forces Memorial in Alrewas, Staffordshire. Hundreds of veterans were among those who attended the service at the centre-piece of the National Memorial Arboretum.

About 1,000 were at the memorial itself, while a further 2,000 watched on a giant screen at the foot of the memorial.

There was a march past and fly-pasts from a Nimrod and a Dakota aircraft. Bob Ainsworth, MP and Minister of State for the Armed Forces, and Vice-Admiral Sir John Dunt, chairman of the memorial's trust, attended the service, the first Remembrance Sunday service since it was unveiled by the Queen last month.

Andrew Baud, spokesman for the war memorial, said: "It was absolutely spectacular.

"At the 11th hour the sun's rays fell through a slit in the walls of the memorial and struck the centre stone. It did it on cue. Thankfully we had a clear morning for it."