Once again silence fell as people around the world stopped to remember those who had fallen in battle.

Young and old alike observed a poignant two-minute silence in the rain and wind at cenotaphs and war memorials around Bristol.

For those like Jamie Cooper, memories of facing the enemy are still fresh in the mind and the scars all too real a reminder of the sacrifices that servicemen and women have suffered.

For others like Harry Patch – one of the last living links to the First World War – the memories may be distant and fading but the scars are just as painful.

This year's Remembrance Day commemorations mark the 90th anniversary of when the guns fell silent and brought the carnage of the First World War to an end.

Being one of only four veterans of the First World War still alive to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many of his comrades, his presence at such services is always a touching one.

Remembrance Sunday remains among the most respected dates in the national calendar.

As with any combat there are inevitably casualties. As the numbers of the fallen in more recent wars has mounted, so the Royal British Legion has reported rising sales of poppies: it has supplied a record 40 million for sale this year, and 750,000 miniature crosses.

A glimpse around the streets in Bristol, Yate, Keynsham, Weston and dozens of smaller ceremonies yesterday suggests that wearing a poppy is at least as widespread as it ever was.

In this modest respect, the so-called military covenant between the armed forces and civilian Britain would seem to be in good shape.

Yet the treatment given to the new generation of veterans and their families falls far short of what they should expect.

It is the Government's attitude to the injured – both immediate and longer term – where the inadequacies are seen at their starkest.