ON Sunday, the world commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, ending “the cruellest war that ever tormented Mankind”.

In addition to honouring the memory of those who fought and died, some may want to conduct a physical pilgrimage.

This is a guide to the most potent locations in Essex associated with the Great War, 1914 – 18.

BILLERICAY ZEPPELIN CRASH SITE:

Alongside Green Farm Lane, Billericay, is the site where Zeppelin L32 crashed in flames, illuminating south Essex with a beacon that could be seen as far away as London. The footings of Black Barn, used as a temporary morgue for the crew, are still visible. The hulk was ransacked by souvenir hunters before a police and army cordon could be formed, and items, such as ashtrays, made from “Zepp” materials, were sold widely in the following months.

COLCHESTER CASTLE PARK:

The beautiful park falls away down Colchester Hill from the castle and the High Street. It contains the longest unbroken stretch of Roman town wall in northern Europe, and a magnificent botanical display, built up since Victorian times. The park was dedicated to the fallen, after the Armistice. Colchester's war memorial, the largest in the county, stands at the entrance. It commemorates both the dead from the town, and those from around the world who passed through Colchester barracks between 1914 and 1918.

CORRINGHAM LIGHT RAILWAY:

It is still possible to follow the track of the light railway across the Corringham marshes. It was built to ferry workers from the population centre at Stanford-le-Hope to the remotely sited Thameside munitions works known as Kynochtown, at Coryton. In 1985, one old lady recalled climbing onto the roof of the train and singing Land of Hope and Glory at the top of her voice, during a German air raid on the works.

DOWNHAM, WAR MEMORIAL:

Beautifully sited war memorial, on a hill overlooking the Thames Estuary and the North Downs. Notable for a curious feature – one of the names has been erased. It belongs to a man who was presumed dead, but turned out to be a deserter. After seeing out the war in Spain, he sneaked back to Downham four years later, but was rumbled.

ENFIELD SMALL ARMS FACTORY:

Alongside Enfield Lock, on the Essex bank of the River Lea navigation, is the place where the most iconic firearm in British history was manufactured. The .303 rifle was the basic weapon for Tommies throughout the Great War, and proved so effective as a weapon that it remained the British army's standard issue rifle throughout the World War 2 as well. Three million .303s were produced here in the course of the Great War.

ESSEX REGIMENTAL CHAPEL:

Warley barracks chapel was given over to the Essex Regiment in 1925, in commemoration of its role in the Great War. It contains the regimental battle honours and some fine stained glass depicting military badges. Entry by appointment only (or you can attend a service), but the chapel is a haunting work of architecture in its own right, independent of its powerful resonances.

FINCHINGFIELD WAR MEMORIAL:

Perhaps the most beautifully positioned war memorial in Essex, with a view over this quintessential picture postcard village – said to be the most photographed in the UK. This was the delectable place that the men on the monument left behind when they went to war. A reminder of how the convulsions of the war stretched to even the most remote rural spots.

HARWICH:

Harwich-based HMS Amphion left harbour on the first night of the war. Two days later she hit a mine, 12 miles out in the North Sea, resulting in the first British service fatalities of the war. There is no specific monument to Amphion in Harwich, but the names of the 132 crew members are inscribed on the Royal Navy monument on Plymouth Hoe, Devon. There is, however, in Dovercourt, a monument to men of the minesweeping fleet, also based at Harwich. They number among the many otherwise unsung heroes of the war.

HORNCHURCH AERODROME:

Four pilots who individually shot down Zeppelins were based here in the Great War. Sutton Farm airfield as it was then known was carved hastily out of agricultural land at the start of the war, and pilots remembered flocks of sheep roaming the landing strip. It had an even more distinguished record in the 1940 Battle of Britain, before being sold off for development. A housing estate now covers the site. Streets are named after celebrity pilots who flew from Hornchurch.

ILFORD WAR MEMORIAL GARDNES:

Landscaped “Armistice park” alongside the A127, formed in 1925 from a cabbage field, with an impressive war memorial at its heart. It is dedicated to the 1159 men from the town killed in the war. (Ilford was still in Essex at the time).

SOUTHEND PIER:

It was from the pierhead that a local newspaper photographer snapped one of the most dramatic images ever taken in the town. A German Zeppelin floats in the estuary like some great broken-backed whale. The airship was brought down by anti-aircraft fire from Purfleet, after conducting a bombing raid on London.

SOUTHEND SEAFRONT:

Site of the worst home front massacre of the war. On August bank holiday 1917, German Gotha bombers launched a surprise attack on holidaymakers, killing 32 people, including many children. The attack was the result of German policy to terrorise the civilian population, so that they would pressurise the British government into suing for peace.

STOW MARIES AIRFIELD:

The only intact Great War airfield in the world. Closed down in 1919, its buildings were used for agricultural purposes over the next 70 years, before the old airfield was rediscovered in the 1990s. It has been widely restored, and holds regular WW1 related events. A public footpath runs along the edge.

STRETHALL:

A village buried deep in the chalk uplands west of Saffron Walden, Strethall has no war memorial. It is the only example in Essex of a Thankful Village – a community which suffered no fatalities in the Great War. The Icknield Way long distance footpath passes through the village. War poet and country lover Edward Thomas walked the Icknield Way in the last few weeks before he headed for the Western Front, and death in combat.

TILBURY FORT:

Historic fort, founded by Henry VIII. It came to life again as an active modern military centre in the Great War. A supply centre for mounted regiments, it was also a base for the new breed of purpose-built anti-aircraft batteries, known as “Screaming Lizzies”.

WALTHAM MARSHES:

Site of the first flight (1909) by a British pilot, A V Roe, in the first British-built plane. Roe went on to create Avro, one of the world's first production-line aircraft companies, based initially in Essex. The legendary Avro 504 exceeded all other aircraft produced by any country, in terms of numbers manufactured, during the Great War. A plaque on the Great Eastern railway viaduct over the River Lea marks the site of Roe's workshop, under a railway arch.

ZEPPELIN MEMORIAL, CUFFLEY:

Just over the Hertfordshire border, this monument, paid for by Daily Express readers, marks the crash site of the first Zeppelin to be shot down over Britain. Essex pilot Leefe Robinson, operating from Hornchurch airfield, was the single-handed “Zepp slayer”. Millions of Londoners watched as the Zepp slowly descended in flames.