By Michael CrooksThursday 7 Nov 2024NewsReading Time: 4 minutes
It was on November 11, 1918 when the guns finally fell silent on the battlefields of World War I, and on Monday, silence will fall again.
Key Points:
- Remembrance Day acknowledges the sacrifice of all allied service people.
- For services in your local area, contact your local RSL for further information.
- People can buy a cloth red poppy from the RSL Poppy Appeal or plant a virtual poppy in the RSL Poppy Appeal Remembrance Garden.
On Remembrance Day, November 11, people throughout the world honour those who served and lost their lives in allied conflicts.
At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Australians are urged to observe one minute’s silence to remember those who died or suffered “for Australia’s cause in all wars and armed conflicts,” read a statement from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Though Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day both commemorate those who have served Australia, Remembrance Day acknowledges the sacrifice of all allied service people.
Events
In NSW, the official Remembrance Day service will take place at the Cenotaph in Martin Place at 10.30am, Monday. (The Cenotaph, or “empty tomb”, is one of Sydney’s oldest World War I monuments.)
Everyone is welcome, and it can also be livestreamed here.
Remembrance Day acknowledges the sacrifice of all allied service people.
Meanwhile, Canberra is hosting a National Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial’s Parade Grounds. The event can also be livestreamed.
For services in your local area, visit the NSW RSL for further information.
Visit a War Memorial
On this day, officials encourage people to visit one of the many war memorials in QLD.
“These war memorials take many forms, but common to all of them is that they remind us of those we have lost to war,” a statement read.
“These memorials are a place for local communities to pay their respects and for families to mourn their loved ones buried in cemeteries overseas.”
To find a war memorial in your area, visit the QLD War Memorials Register.
For services in your local area, visit the QLD RSL for further information.
Red sails
During both dawn and dusk on Remembrance Day, the Sydney Opera House will light up with red poppies “to commemorate the service and sacrifice of our veterans and current serving personnel,” a NSW Government statement read.
The projections will begin at around 5 AM (until sunrise), and then at 8 PM (until midnight).
For services in your local area, visit the NSW RSL for further information.
The red Flanders poppy is a symbol of Remembrance Day and has its origins in World War I.
At a battle in Ypres, Belgium in 1915, Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was in charge of a first-aid post. It was there that he wrote the celebrated poem, “In Flanders Fields”, which described the poppies that marked the graves of soldiers.
After the war in England, it was decided that the red poppy would be adopted as a symbol and emblem of remembrance.
The red poppy also has a special significance for Australians. The flower was among the first to bloom in the battlefields of northern France and Belgium in World War I.
“In soldiers’ folklore, the vivid red of the poppy came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground,” the Australian Army said in a statement.
Poppy appeal
People can buy a cloth red poppy from the Anzac Memorial or from RSL NSW Poppy Appeal volunteers in Martin Place on the day.
People can also plant a virtual poppy in the RSL Poppy Appeal Remembrance Garden.
For more information visit here.
During both dawn and dusk on Remembrance Day, the Sydney Opera House will light up with red poppies.
Remembrance Day origins
The origins of Remembrance hark back to Germany’s unconditional surrender in World War I.
But it was in the post-wars years that the allied nations chose this day and time to remember their war dead.
“The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war,” an Australian War Memorial statement read.
“This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave.”
At the time of World War I, 416,809 Australian men enlisted and 302,000 served overseas (from a population of fewer than 5 million). More than 62,000 were killed and 155,000 wounded.
Nearly 3,000 Australian nurses served in the Australian Army Nursing Service during World War I, and 25 died, according to the Australian War Memorial.
For more information visit here.
Article supplied by Michael Crooks.
Michael is a senior journalist and former news editor of Who magazine. His work has appeared in People, Marie Claire, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, news.com.au, Qantas magazine and more.
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