Remembrance Day 

Sadly sometimes the voices of those that died on the battlefield are forgotten, by the time the 11th of November comes,  and as the 11th hour falls, many businesses go about their business like it is just another day. There is no longer the quiet pause for remembrance, there is longer the recognition of the incredible sacrifices that our soldiers and their families endured.

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On the 28 July 1914, WW1 began. The battles were brutal and the world was thrust into hearing the stories and seeing the images that would arise from those battlefields. On the 1st of July 1916, on that one day, Britain sustained 57,000 causalities at the Somme.

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Most battles raged for months and deaths occurred on land, on sea and in the skies. 40 million causalities, with approx. 20 million deaths, it was the war that was supposed to end all wars.

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When Australia answered the call to fight, it was a fight they believed was crucial to sustain the freedom for every Australian, and to gain freedom of those that had been oppresed.

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WW1 was made up of two factions. The Central Powers which were made up of Germany, Austria, Hungry, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire (Turkish Empire); and the Entente Powers which was made up of France, Great Britain, and its allies including Australia, Russia, Italy, Japan and later, the Unites States.

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 Over 417,000.00 volunteered to join the defence forces when World War 1 first broke out. Of those that had tried 340,000, had been successful candidates. Of those 340,000, 331,000 served in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Of those that served overseas in the AIF, 213,000 members became casualties and almost 54,000 died, 4,000 were taken prisoner, and 155,000 were wounded, 1,200 Navy personnel served overseas, almost 240 were killed in action, 3600 Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) members served, almost 80 perished. 

  

​The AANS (Australian Army Nursing Service) which was established in 1903 consisted of 2000 and alongside the more than 3000 civilian nurses who volunteered, 78 perished. When the troops, sailors and air crew were repatriated back to Australian by 1920, 264,000 men and women had returned. 151,000 were calssified as fit for continued service, and 113,000 were classified as being  “unfit for service”. 

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The horrors for the survivors did not end when the guns fell silent, years after the war had ended, by 1939 50,000 WW1 veterans had or were in hospitals receiving some sort of medical treatment. Many suffered from what was then called Nostalgia, which today is described as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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Even as far as the 1970’s and beyond, many WW1 veterans were still fighting to receive some form of compensation for their service related disabilities.

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The significance of the 11th hour of the 11th day in November 1918 was that after almost 4 years of fighting, and so much carnage, Germany finally signed the armistice at 05:10am, on the 11th November, accepting all allied terms which amounted to unconditional surrender.

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As news travelled further down the line, by 11:00 am the battlefields fell silent along the 760 kilometre line on the Western Front, bringing to an end the 1,567 bloody days of continuous fighting. It became remembered as the 11th hour.

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The figures listed do not include the number of family members who endured the fallout of those battles, for those the war continued, long after the final gunshot echoed in the distance. Since the Great War ended through to the battles we have fought to the current period, the fallout from our involvement in conflicts still continues for many service personnel  and their families.

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We remember them all, we hope you will too. We ask that if you cannot attend a service, that you stop for a minute, on the 11 hour of the 11 day of the 11th month,  and remember their sacrifices. Thank you.

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All photgraphs belong to the original owner copyright awm.gov.au

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https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2084706

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