Remembrance Day

Like a great many other nations, Australia honours the day when the guns fell silent on the Western Front during World War I. "Armistice Day," as it was known, honours the fallen soldiers of that conflict (particularly those whose bodies were buried in unmarked graves), as well as the end of the war. Annually, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Australians pause for two minutes to mark that important moment and pay homage to the fallen. This observation is held on 11 November to commemorate the German army's signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918. In 1945, however, the Australian government announced that Armistice Day would be renamed "Remembrance Day"—honouring not only the soldiers who fought in World War I but also those who fought and died during World War II. In 1997 the practice of Remembrance Day was formally adopted in Australia.

Background

In 1901 Britain's Parliament granted independence to the Commonwealth of Australia. Despite its independence, however, Australia remained loyal to the Crown, retaining the governor-general—the empire's official representative in the new Australian government. When World War I began in 1914 and threatened Britain's existence, Australia responded. Troops were raised to support Britain and its allies (Russia and France) against the German empire and its allies (Turkey, Austria and Hungary). These troops, many of whom were mere children whose ages were falsified, were largely undertrained. Nevertheless, the Australians were eager to join the war against Germany, buoyed by the idea that a British-led military effort would result in a swift victory.

The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) first made its contributions locally, attacking German targets in New Guinea. In early November of 1914, a convoy of Australian ships carrying the Australian and New Zealand forces (dubbed "ANZACs") departed the port of Albany, bound for Europe via the Suez Canal. Meanwhile, British and Russian military leaders believed that Germany's push into Russia and elsewhere in Europe could be halted if Germany's allies were attacked. A key target was the Dardanelles, a Turkish peninsula that provides an opening from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea and Russia. The ANZACs led this attack at the northern coast of the Dardanelles at Gallipoli in April 1915.

Australian and New Zealander troops fought to a stalemate at Gallipoli, with each side locked in stasis for seven months before the ANZACs successfully withdrew, one year after arriving in the European theatre. The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) continued its contributions to the effort. They moved into the European theatre, participating at the Western Front. Additionally, they returned to the Middle East, assisting in the captures of the Suez Canal, Syria, Palestine and the Sinai until the end of the war in 1918.

Honouring Australia's Troops

Approximately 39 per cent of Australia's men aged between eighteen and forty-four enlisted in the war effort. Of the nearly 417,000 Australians who enlisted to fight the Germans, more than 60,000 were killed and another 156,000 were wounded, exposed to gas or taken prisoner in World War I, Australia's costliest war in history. The guns on the Western Front—the main field of battle in the European theatre during the war—fell silent at eleven o'clock on 11 November 1918, after four years of constant firing. The Germans, driven out of the region, called for an armistice to discuss a settlement. With the Germans' unconditional surrender, World War I came to an end. But its end did not come without great cost to Australia.

A year after the war's conclusion, Australian journalist Edward Honey proposed that, at the eleventh hour of 11 November, Britain's allies should observe a two-minute moment of silence to honour those who fell during the war. The British Cabinet and, ultimately, King George V himself endorsed the idea, which became an annual tradition. In 1920, "Armistice Day", as it was known, was given further weight in London, as the remains of an unknown British soldier, who had died at the Western Front, was given a funeral procession in London. Armistice Day became not just a British tradition but one celebrated by most of the Western world.

In 1939, Australia again became embroiled in a global war. Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies declared that Australia would join the effort against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan. In addition to sending ships and troops back to Europe and into the Pacific, the Japanese attacked the coastal Australia, including Sydney Harbour. Royal Australian Navy and Air Force forces fought vigorously alongside the Allies in the Pacific, not only pushing back against an aggressive Japanese empire but to safeguard against a much-feared Japanese invasion of Australia itself. By the end of World War II, 39,000 Australians had been killed in combat and more than 30,000 were taken captive.

In 1945 after the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) were defeated, the British government proposed that Armistice Day be renamed in honour of those who died in both World Wars. Australia agreed to this proposal, calling 11 November "Remembrance Day." Thereafter, Remembrance Day evolved not only to focus on the two wars but any conflicts in which Australians (more than 102,000 since Australia's independence) fought and died in service to their country. In 1997, Governor-General Sir William Deane, issued a proclamation formally declaring 11 November to be Remembrance Day.

In addition to observing a moment of annual silence on 11 November, many Australians (as well as other celebrants of Remembrance Day) wear red poppies to mark this occasion. According to tradition, red poppies were some of the first flowers to bloom on the battlefield at Flanders. The Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) has, since 1921, sold lapel pins containing red Flanders poppies to celebrate Remembrance Day, giving the proceeds from these sales to serve Australian veterans.

Bibliography

"First World War 1914–18." Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww1. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Gore, Charlotte. "Australians Mark 105th Remembrance Day with Services Honouring the Fallen." ABC News, 10 Nov. 2023, www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-11/remembrance-day-crowds-gather-across-australia-honour-fallen/103093892. Accessed 18 June 2024.

Lees, Justin. "Remembrance Day 2016: Australians Honour the Sacrifices of Fallen Soldiers." News.com.au, 11 Nov. 2016, www.news.com.au/national/remembrance-day-2016-australians-honour-the-sacrifices-of-fallen-soldiers/news-story/be13a6a8915bc7e0bda76a222e4bec3d. Accessed 18 June 20247.

"Second World War, 1939–45." Australian War Memorial, 7 May 2024, www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww2. Accessed 18 June 2024.