Hi all,
At about this time Nov11 last year, I was involved in a celebration presentation for our local community. It was decided to include a reference to Rememberence Day. After some brief research, this is what I found. I post it here for those who are interested in the Origins and History of Remembrence Day:
(Please be aware that the following was from an Australian Website therefore biased towards the Australian history of the event.)
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Introduction
Remembrance Day is the day Australians remember those who have died in war.
In 1918 the armistice that ended World War I came into force, bringing to an end four years
of hostilities that saw 61 919 Australians die at sea, in the air, and on foreign soil. Few
Australian families were left untouched by the events of World War I - 'the war to end all wars'
most had lost a father, son, daughter, brother, sister or friend.
At 11am on 11 November we pause to remember the sacrifice of those men and women
who have died or suffered in wars and conflicts and all those who have served during the
past 100 years.
Origin
At 5am on 11 November 1918, three German government representatives accepted the
armistice terms presented to them by an allied commander, General Foch of the French
Army. The demands of the armistice included the withdrawal of German forces to the east
bank of the Rhine within 30 days; immediate cessation of warfare; and surrender of the
German fleet and all heavy guns with no further negotiations until the signing of the peace
treaty.
The armistice became effective at 11am the same day, and as the guns fell silent on the
Western Front in France and Belgium, four years of hostilities ended.
The cease-fire was made permanent the following year when members of the
Commonwealth and the League of Nations signed the Treaty of Versailles. People across
the world celebrated the war's end - celebrations tempered by thoughts of the enormous
suffering and loss of life resulting from the war.
More than 416 000 Australians volunteered for service in World War I. Of these, 324 000
served overseas. More than 60 000 Australians were killed, including 45 000 who died on
the Western Front in France and Belgium and more than 8 000 who died on the Gallipoli
Peninsula in Turkey.
In Australia and other allied countries, including New Zealand, Canada and the United
States, 11 November became known as Armistice Day - a day to remember those who died
in World War I. The day continues to be commemorated in Allied countries.
After World War II the Australian Government agreed to the United Kingdom's proposal that
Armistice Day be renamed Remembrance Day to commemorate those who were killed in
both World Wars. Today the loss of Australian lives from all wars and conflicts is
commemorated on Remembrance Day.
In October 1997 the Governor-General issued a Proclamation declaring 11 November as
Remembrance Day - a day to remember the sacrifice of those who have died for Australia in
wars and conflicts.
The Proclamation reinforced the importance of Remembrance Day and encouraged all
Australians to renew their observance of the event.
Silence
The central element of Remembrance Day ceremonies is the one minute silence.
A Melbourne journalist, Edward George Honey, first proposed a period of silence for national
remembrance in a letter published in the London Evening News on 8 May 1919.
The suggestion came to the attention of King George V. After testing the practicality of five
minutes silence - a trial was held with five Grenadier Guardsmen standing to attention for
the silence - the King issued a proclamation on 7 November 1919 which called for a
two-minute silence. His proclamation requested that "all locomotion should cease, so that,
in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance
of the glorious dead".
At 11am on 11 November 1919, Australians, for the first time, paused and stood in silent
tribute to the men and women of the Australian Imperial Force who died on battlefields in the
Middle East, Gallipoli and Europe.
In 1997 the Governor-General issued a Proclamation urging all Australians to observe the
one minute silence on Remembrance Day. It is still appropriate for two minutes silence to
be observed.
Poppies
In May 1915 Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps
was working in a dressing station on the front line to the north of Ieper, Belgium, when he
wrote In Flanders Fields:
In Flanders fields the poppies
blow
Between the crosses, row on
row
That mark our place; and in the
sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns
below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset
glow,
Loved and were loved, and now
we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we
throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though
poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
In 1918 Moira Michael, an American, wrote a poem in reply, We shall keep the faith, in which
she promised to wear a poppy 'in honour of our dead' and so began the tradition of wearing
a poppy in remembrance.
It was French YMCA Secretary, Madame Guerin, who in 1918 conceived the idea of selling
silk poppies to help needy soldiers.
Poppies were first sold in England on Armistice Day in 1921 by members of the British
Legion to raise money for those who had been incapacitated by the war.
The practice began in Australia the same year, promoted by the Returned Sailors' and
Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia (now known as the Returned & Services League of
Australia - or RSL).
In the lead-up to 11 November each year, the RSL sells red poppies for Australians to pin on
their lapels, with proceeds helping the organisation undertake welfare work.
Since 1921 wearing a poppy has enabled Australians to show they have not forgotten the
102 811 Australian servicemen and women who have given their lives in wars and conflicts
during the past 100 years.
Flanders poppy seeds may be grown in Australian gardens. By planting the seeds in April,
the poppies bloom in November, in time for Remembrance Day. They serve as a visual
reminder of those Australians who have died in war.
Unknown soldiers
Twentieth century warfare resulted in millions of unknown dead resting in unknown graves.
Of Australia's war dead from World War I and World War II, 35 527 (about 35 per cent) have
no known graves.
The names of many Australians who died in World War I appear on memorials along the
Western Front, including the names of about 18 000 men of the Australian Imperial Force
with 'no known grave'.
In 1993, to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1918 armistice, the Australian Government
exhumed the remains of an unknown Australian soldier from the Western Front for
entombment at the Australian War Memorial's Hall of Memory, Canberra.
The Unknown Soldier's remains were exhumed from the Adelaide Cemetery, near
Villers-Bretonneux on the Western Front. A State Funeral was held on 11 November 1993 -
Remembrance Day.
Unknown Soldier's coffin on the Stone of
Remembrance, Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Before proceeding to the Hall of Memory, the Unknown Soldier's coffin was placed on the
Stone of Remembrance outside the Memorial where the Prime Minister, Paul Keating,
delivered a eulogy:
. . . We will never know who this Australian was. Yet he has always been among those we
have honoured. We know that he was one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western
Front, one of the 416,000 Australians who volunteered for service in World War I . . . and one
of the 100,000 Australians who have died in wars this century. He is all of them. And he is
one of us.
As Australia's Unknown Soldier was laid to rest in the Hall of Memory, World War I veteran
Robert Comb, who had served in battles on the Western Front, sprinkled soil from Pozieres,
France, over the coffin and said, "Now you're home, mate".
Ode - the Ode comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon, which was first
published in the London newspaper The Times on 21 September 1914.
This verse, which became the Ode of Remembrance, has been used in association with commemoration services
in Australia since 1921:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Last Post - the Last Post historically has been used to signify the end of the day.
One minute of silence - commencing at 11am.
Rouse - the Rouse is the bugle call commonly used in conjunction with the Last Post. It breaks the silence that
follows the playing of the Last Post.
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Lest we forget.
