# Why Was the WWI Armistice Delayed Several Hours **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 29, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220 "2005-11-29T16:48:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/1 "2005-11-29T16:48:12Z")
The WWI armistice was signed at about 5 AM Paris time on November 11 but was set not to take effect until 11 AM. Except for the nifty “The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the elevent month” I have found nothing saying why this was done. Many commanders in the field recieved new of the armistice news and still sent men out in offensive operations right up to 11 AM. Was there a reason for the delay? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/2 "2005-11-29T16:59:35Z")
Really? Some fool went out on patrol knowing the war was over? Cite? I would really like to know. I would point out how looney that would have been with all the gunners firing off ceremonial ‘last’ shots for several hours. Turning to (but not directly toward) the OP, treaties always had time to let the news get out. In the Napoleonic War, treaties had elaborate timetables saying the war in (say) the Caribbean would end XX days after ratification and so on. A fight before that deadline was OK, one afterwards was a late punch. In the modern era, such things still happen. The [Instrument of Surrender](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/German_Instrument_of_Surrender%2C_1945) ending The War in Europe specified 2301 CET as the time fighting on all fronts would end. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/3 "2005-11-29T17:13:05Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Really? Some fool went out on patrol knowing the war was over? Cite? I would really like to know. > > I would point out how looney that would have been with all the gunners firing off ceremonial ‘last’ shots for several hours. > > Turning to (but not directly toward) the OP, treaties always had time to let the news get out. In the Napoleonic War, treaties had elaborate timetables saying the war in (say) the Caribbean would end XX days after ratification and so on. A fight before that deadline was OK, one afterwards was a late punch. > > In the modern era, such things still happen. The [Instrument of Surrender](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/German_Instrument_of_Surrender%2C_1945) ending The War in Europe specified 2301 CET as the time fighting on all fronts would end. A schoolmate of my mother was killed after the WWI armistice went into effect. It is no doubt done so that ongoing operations can be terminated and there will be no misunderstanding as to whether or not the armistice is in effect at the time some last minute action takes place. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/4 "2005-11-29T17:13:24Z")
[This book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760458/103-6523903-8215844?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) > [@](#): > > A tight focus—the activities of the British and American troops on the final morning of WWI—has yielded a somewhat sprawling study for Persico, who coauthored Colin Powell’s My American Journey and whose Roosevelt’s Secret War made the cover of several book reviews. Some soldiers laid down their arms and waited quietly for 11 a.m.; others suffered heavy casualties (a total of about 10,000) because aggressive commanders (including General Pershing) insisted on launching assaults right up to the last minute. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/5 "2005-11-29T17:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > others suffered heavy casualties (a total of about 10,000) because aggressive commanders (including General Pershing) insisted on launching assaults right up to the last minute. I think we can safely assume that General Pershing is currently experiencing a very warm afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/6 "2005-11-29T17:33:24Z")
There is also the issue of communications. Your talking about getting everyone on both sides to understand that the war is over when they were using runners telegraphs, and a very tricky phone system (the later two depending on uncut lines) You try to get hundreds of thousands of people to stop what they have been doing for four straight years under six hours with those limitations. Just Think about how tied up the lines would have been as confirmations were asked from each unit involved. Better safe than sorry as far as timeing to prevent the war from suddenly flaring up again because some Unit launched an attack istead of laying down arms. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/7 "2005-11-29T17:37:36Z")
I went through the Canadian Corps unit war diaries that are available online, and pretty much the whole Corps happened to be in “rest” on the 11th, doing training or parade inspections, etc. One battalion was ordered forward into Mons on the morning of the 11th, and “took” it without casualties (Mons being the first battle of 1914 for the British). However, the British were still operating up until 11 a.m.: > [@](#): > > 11th of November 1918 > > The armistice were signed at 5 .5 p.m. on the 11th of November At 6:50 am the order was received to cease hostilities at 1100 hrs. > > In the Fourth Army cavalry found the enemy in the same positions as overnight in the South African Brigade already in contact at Hestrud reported the same. At 10:15 am a staff officer and 66th Division arrived with the orders to cease hostilities at 11.a.m. a.m…[xxxiii] > > The Germans appeared to be attempting to expend ammunition. At 7 a.m. 199th Brigade sent forward two battalions and two 18 pounders from Clairfays. They would push in the screens of machine guns but not fight a general action. They met little opposition and ceased fighting at 11 a.m.[xxxiv] [this web page,](http://www.imperialservices.org.uk/sambre_canal.htm) which quotes the Official History Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/8 "2005-11-29T18:23:56Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > [This book](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375760458/103-6523903-8215844?v=glance&n=283155&n=507846&s=books&v=glance) Thank you. I requested it from the Nashville Library. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/9 "2005-11-29T19:03:53Z")
Keep in mind that the armistice was just that–an _armistice_, not an unconditional surrender and not a treaty of peace. With the advantage of hindsight, we know that the war was over, but that wasn’t obvious at the time. If the cease-fire broke down, or if the German armies refused to comply with its terms, the armistice line would be the jumping off point for further operations. Some commanders wanted to secure as advantageous a line as possible. In the end, fighting almost _did_ resume in June 1919 after the Germans saw the Versailles Treaty. By that time, Germany had long since cleared out of Belgium and France, so the armistice line was moot, but it illustrates the point that it wasn’t certain in November 1918 that the fighting was over. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/10 "2005-11-29T19:05:12Z")
> [@Rodd Hill](#): > > One battalion was ordered forward into Mons on the morning of the 11th, and “took” it without casualties (Mons being the first battle of 1914 for the British). **Rodd** , according to General Currie, there were casualties on both sides at Mons. This is from General Currie’s diary: > [@](#): > > Shortly after midnight[i.e. - the early hours of November 11], the 42nd battalion found a weak spot at the station, west of Mons, and entered the city. Some fighting took place through the streets, where I saw dead bodies later in the day. The German machine gunners defending the position were all volunteers, and remained at their posts until they were either killed or captured. At 4.30 in the morning the 3rd Division was able to report the complete capture of the Town… At 7.30 in the morning a wire came from the Army informing us that the Armistice was to come into effect at 11.00 a.m. when hostilities would cease. Quoted in _The Last Day, the Last Hour_, by Robert Sharpe - an account of the libel trial that General Currie later brought against a newspaper which wrote an article accusing him of throwing away his men’s lives at the last minute. The jury found for General Currie. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/11 "2005-11-29T19:10:45Z")
D’oh! I should really have known that…Currie served here, and at the other Victoria forts prior to WWI in the local artillery militia. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-was-the-wwi-armistice-delayed-several-hours/333220/12 "2005-11-29T19:24:12Z")
You’d probably find the Sharpe book an interesting read - the trial was very controversial, because it served as a post-war proxy for the debate over the generalship during the Great War. Currie wasn’t in very good health at the time, and brought the action against advice from his colleagues. Ended up being vindicated by the jury.