LONDON - Britain's Prince Harry opened the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey on Thursday to commemorate the memory of soldiers killed in conflict since the beginning of the First World War.

The annual Field of Remembrance event is held in the run-up to November 11 each year at Westminster Abbey in central London.

November 11 marks the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War and since 1928 members of the public have been invited to commemorate soldiers who died in the First World War and in conflicts since then.

Each year tens of thousands of crosses and red and black plastic and paper poppies are placed in the Field of Remembrance, with each one representing an individual or sometimes a military unit.

The Field of Remembrance has been held each year since 1928 in the Abbey's grounds opposite the British parliament building, and this year 70,000 tribute crosses have been planted into the ground.